Alone
by Packersfan12
Summary: Anna had joined the Joes to serve and protect, least expecting to be chosen as a ninja assistant. Snake Eyes is one of the most mysterious people she'd ever met, and the most intruiging. As Joe missions become more deadly, and Cobra makes its next attempt at world domination, the only person she can trust is Snake. In turn he vows to protect her at all costs. Snake Eyes/O.C.
1. Chapter 1

"Contact, left!" Duke shouted.

Anna rose her rifle, crouching to the ground as gunfire opened on them. She looked frantically for anything that would protect her from oncoming fire. There was a rock to her right that would provide perfect cover for her. Ducking her head she ran to it, her back hitting the rock as she reached it. Taking a deep breath she turned and opened fire towards the place the oncoming shots were coming from.

"Cover me!" Roadblock shouted as he too ran for a better cover point.

Anna kept her scope trained on the spot where machine gun fire had been lighting up. She saw a couple shots, and Roadblock hit the ground hard. "Shit!" he shouted, "Why am I always the first one?" Roadblock tore the headset from his head, and threw his game controller.

"You know I've asked myself that question every time." Anna said, pointing at the TV screen, "Especially when Duke decides to do the disco."

They all looked at the screen where Duke's player was spinning and hopping up and down, "What?" He asked, "Ok, so I'm not the best player, what's wrong with that?"

Anna snorted and turned off the Xbox, "Duke, you're the worst player I've ever seen."

"I'm going to have to agree with Anna on this one." Roadblock said.

"You're all jealous." Duke said, "My game moves are just too advanced for this game."

"Ha!" Lady J said as she flipped through a book.

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower. Snake was pretty tough in practice today." Anna said, "I think something's bothering him."

"Well, you're his ninja assistant," Duke said, "find out."

She gave him an annoyed look, "Because finding out anything about Snake is so easy."

Anna left the room, making her way to her room, and eventually the nice hot shower to relax her muscles. Ever since she joined the Joes, she had been training with Snake Eyes, the mysterious figure in black. In the beginning he intimidated her, his presence alone demanding a sense of power. Not the bad power, where he thought he was better than her; the power that captivated an audience, made them watch his every move, at least that's the way she felt. His mask was the most intriguing thing about him, she'd never seen his face, and from what she'd heard, neither had any of the Joes. She'd gotten used to him, his powerful presence, his mysteriousness, and his love of making things tough for her. She knew, though, that he wasn't doing it to make her mad, just to make her better. She could tell by his approving gestures after practice.

Anna reached her room and grabbed a pair of baggy grey sweatpants and a black tank top, making her way to the showers. She passed two Joes and nodded to them, they nodded back with polite smiles. That was one thing she loved about the Joes, there were no men looking to win her over. There were no pervs, or big shots. Well, there were always those guys looking to prove themselves, but every single one of the Joes she knew were polite and not afraid to be who they were.

Anna stripped down and rubbed her arms, inspecting the bruises she had gotten from

Snake Eyes. The warm water felt like Heaven on her body, soothing her aching muscles. The shower was her time to think, where no one would interrupt.

But every good time had to end, and she reluctantly stepped out of the shower, dryed off, and got dressed. She began the journey back to her room, her dark hair wrapped up in a towel on the top of her head.

There was a wisp of air that passed behind her. To the normal person it would mean nothing, but to Anna, it was a sign. She whirled around striking her forearm out to block any blows that would come her way. A black fist contacted with her arm, and she struck out with her other arm to hit her attacker in the face. He moved his head out of the way and twisted his body so that he was behind her. Anna used all her strength to leap backwards in the air, using the assailants shoulders as support as she flipped over him. Anna landed on her feet behind him, putting a fist to the back of his head just behind the ear, a killing point, "Got you, Snake."

Snake Eyes turned to face her, placing his hands together and bowing. She returned the gesture, knowing he had made the attack easy on her, and said, "Well, you surprised me there." Snake stood there, like a statue, not moving or making any sort of noise. Anna sighed, "You sure do make conversations tough."

Snake tilted his head to the side, signalling he was asking her a question, "I was just taking a shower." she said, "I'm going back to my room, want to come for a cup of coffee? I even got Duke to buy me one of those Keurigs."

Snake stepped forward, allowing her to lead him to her room. He came there often,

though she didn't know why. All she did was babble on and on, telling him every story she could think of about her childhood. He had written on a piece of paper once that since she was becoming his assistant, he wanted to know about her. The other Joes said that was unusual for him, he had never showed any sign of wanting to communicate with them. He liked staying on his own, they said, he was a Joe, but he didn't really have any friends.

They reached her room and stepped inside, leaving the door open. She started up her Keurig and looked at Snake who sat rigidly at the end of her bed, "You want some coffee?"

He turned his head to look at her, at least she thought he was looking at her, and just

there. She sighed, "Okay, okay." she had tried to get him to take his mask off ever since she made the slightest friendship with him. Of course she was friends with the rest of the Joes, but she liked being with Snake the most, something about him just attracted her. Not a relationship attraction, but friendship.

"So, I'm running out of stories to tell you." She said, plopping on the bed behind him.

He didn't turn around to look at her, he just faced forward. She sat up, twisting to lay on her stomach next to him, "Maybe you should tell me a story."

Snake slowly turned his head to look down at her, and she smiled, "Still no?" he turned away telling her it was, in fact, a solid no. She sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes, "Well, you said I had to tell you about my life if I was going to be your assistant, right?" He looked back down at her, "Well, if you're going to be my boss or master or whatever you want to call yourself, why can't I learn about you?"

He bowed his head, clasping his hands together. He suddenly stood, taking her by

surprise and headed towards the door. "Snake!" Anna called after him, "Snake, I'm sorry if I made you mad."

Snake Eyes stood in the doorway, his back to her. He reached behind his neck where he usually kept his swords, digging in one of the scabbards. He pulled out a red piece of cloth and turned around, holding it out to her. Anna took it, looking down at the small square of crimson cloth. She looked up, "Snake, what is-"

He was gone.

_** So yesterday, my boyfriend took me to G.I. Joe Retaliation. I loved Snake Eyes in the first G.I. Joe movie, and he was still the coolest character in Retaliation. I've wanted to make a story about him for a while, so here it is! I hope it isn't too bad, so reviews and messages and all that jazz are quite appreciated. If you do criticize it, try not to make it too harsh, I'm bad with criticism. :P **_


	2. Chapter 2

Snake Eyes took a deep breath and unsheathed his katana, passing it through his vision, never taking his eyes off the dummies that lay before him. With extreme precision, he maneuvered his body around them, ducking and flipping like they were lunging at him with unseen blades. He lept through the air and kicked one of the dummies, sending it flying across the training room. He landed with his right knee on the floor, his left arm resting on the other. Rising, he turned to observe the mess he made. The dummies lay on the floor, some in halves, others with just slash marks.

He spent the next half hour cleaning the training room so the janitors didn't have to. Snake Eyes came to the training room every night to practice his skills. It was the only time he could show his full potential and not hold back his strength like he had to with Anna.

Anna.

Now she was something he hadn't been expecting. When General Hawk had told him he would be training her, he was very skeptical, not expecting her to last more than a week. She had shown great potential, though, and was quick to learn the basic moves of the katana. Her spunk and wit gave her drive, and there was a fierce determination in her to meet his approval.

She was undoubtedly beautiful, even he could see that, and she always seemed to know what he was trying to say to her. No one had ever understood his silence, everyone that had met him had asked about his story, but he could ever answer. He liked it that way, being the mysterious one.

His thoughts traveled back to Anna, and he found himself actually anticipating their next practice. He enjoyed their practices together and being able to teach someone the way of the ninja. She also seemed to enjoy it, although everything about it was physically and mentally demanding. She had done surprisingly well, and continued to improve every day.

Snake Eyes sat with his back against the wall, watching as the automatic lights shut off, leaving him in the darkness. That's what he loved most about coming to the training room at night, not much of the Joes wanted to practice after doing it all day. It left him alone to his thoughts, giving him time to clear his mind.

But suddenly the lights near the door flicked on, and Anna strode in looking around to see if anyone was there.

_Speak of the devil._ Snake Eyes thought.

Seemingly unseen, he watched as she sighed, pulling out the katana he had given her. She started moving and striking out with the sword in mechanical movements, her balance shakey. Snake Eyes watched her for a while in the shadows, before rising to his feet. He approached her as her back was to him, his steps silent. As she turned around swinging the sword, he drew his in the blink of an eye, their blades clashing together.

Anna gasped, stepping backward, and tripped over her own feet. He stuck out his hand and helped her to her feet, sheathing the katana.

"Snake Eyes? Where the hell did you come from? Jesus!" Anna said, "You gave me a near heart attack!"

He stood there and she sighed, "Right, forgot you don't speak."

"I was training." he signed to her.

"You do sign language now?" She blurted, "That would have been nice to know six months ago when you started training me! You're lucky my cousin was deaf and I had to learn it."

"Your movements are bulky." he said.

"I know, I just can't get the swing of things." She said, itching her head.

"The katana is like an extension of your arm, you have to feel it." Snake Eyes said.

"Feel it. You want me to feel a sword through my hand?" Anna asked skeptically.

"It sounds ridiculous but if you practice with it enough, you will understand what I am trying to tell you." Snake Eyes signed.

Anna sighed, putting the katana away, "I wish you hadn't seen that."

"I'm your teacher, I'm supposed to see those things and teach you how to do better."

"I know, it's just embarrassing." Anna shrugged.

Snake Eyes arched an eyebrow behind his mask, "And do you think I was as good as I am now when I first started out?"

Anna watched his hands spell out what he was saying and said, "Well, no I guess not."

"As much as I hate to say it, Stormshadow beat me good most days to where I couldn't hardly move. I made a lot of mistakes fighting him."

"How did you get better?"

"I knew what mistakes I made, I memorized them to the exact detail in which carried them out. I spent long hours in our courtyards while everyone slept, going over and over practicing the moves I should have made, and you know what?"

"What?"

"I never made those mistakes again." Snake Eyes signed.

She looked up at him, her brown eyes rekindled with the burning determination to do exactly what he had told her. Anna nodded, "Okay, great advice Snake, thanks." She smiled, "Now you have to leave."

"And why is that?"

"Well you said you practiced in the courtyard when everyone was asleep, so no one was watching you." She emphasized the last five words.

Snake Eyes rolled his eyes and sagged his shoulders, "Where am I supposed to go?"

"Oh well you know they make these cool new things nowadays, they're called rooms." Anna said sarcastically.

"I had no idea." Snake Eyes signed.

"Well now you do, so shoo shoo." Anna said, waving her hand.

Snake Eyes shook his head and started on his way to his room. He couldn't comprehend exactly why he obeyed her, maybe it was because she was the first person he had ever held a conversation with since he took his vow. Maybe it was the way she had looked so determined.

Heck if he knew.

_**I just want to start off with a huge thank you! I didn't really expect as much of the feedback that I got from all of you lovely people! So I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to make Snake Eyes do sign language, but I needed a way for him to communicate, so it's going to have to be done. And I also know he didn't take a vow of silence in the comics, but I didn't really read much of them so I'm going movie-based. And I totally forgot about the Baroness and how her name is Anna! So I didn't steal that. :P I hope I did an okay job at writing in Snake Eyes' point of view, too. Also, I forgot to do a disclaimer, I do not own G.I. Joe, any of the Joes (except Anna), or Snake Eyes, cause Lord knows if I owned Snake Eyes I'd be the happiest person ever!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Anna woke early the next morning, the raging thunderstorm outside making it near impossible for her to sleep. She swung herself out of bed, doing her routine morning stretches and throwing a couple Snake Eyes had taught her.

Without the thought of a shower, she made her way to the lounge. The only people there were Duke and Ripcord, who were laughing so hard they were almost on the floor.

"Wasn't that the girl that tackled you and broke you're uh...your-"

"Wrist!" they both shouted at the same time. "Jinx!" Ripcord shouted, pointing at Duke, "You owe me a soda."

"Jinx." Anna said before she even knew what she was saying.

"Huh?" Duke asked, wiping his eyes.

"My family called me Jinx because I'd do the whole 'jinx you owe me a soda' thing every single time someone said the same word as me. It was kind of my nickname."

"Jinx." Ripcord said, "You look like a Jinx."

"Well thank you." Anna said, "So what are you boys doing?"

"Well, me and Duke were talking about this one time we both got drunk and brought these two chicks home." Ripcord said, starting with a new round of laughter, "They were real big, like big if you know what I'm trying to say. Well, we were talking about wrestling, and all of a sudden one of the chicks just ran at Duke and tackled him right down on the cement." Duke started laughing again, nodding his head, "Broke his goddamn wrist. Funniest thing I've ever seen."

"Sounds like an eventful time." Anna said.

"What about you, Jinx, what's the most eventful time you've ever had?" Duke asked.

Anna arched an eyebrow, "Jinx?"

"I like the name." Duke shrugged.

Anna thought very hard for a while before smiling and chuckling a little, "Okay, so this one time at my family reunion, we were playing kickball. Well, I went up to kick the ball and I saw it coming my way, and I was all determine I was going to kick this ball so motherfucking hard it was going to go all the way across the field. I go in to kick it, and I miss." Anna said.

"That was the most exciting thing you've ever done?" Ripcord asked monotonously like her life must have been a boring one.

"No, I missed the ball right? Well, after I missed it, I stepped down onto the ball and tripped over it, knocking the air out of me." Anna said, and Ripcord and Duke burst into hysterical laughter, making Anna laugh as well as she remembered the horrible feeling of her whole family laughing at her.

"You're the first person I've ever heard that tripped over a ball!" Ripcord said in a high pitched voice, his laughter making his voice distorted.

They laughed for a while, but slowly it died away until they were just smiling, reliving old memories.

Finally Duke broke the silence, "So how's training with Snake Eyes going?"

"Good." Anna said, "He's tough, but he has to be, I mean if I'm going to be a ninja I need to be tough. And he has great advice."

"How do you understand him?" Ripcord asked, "It's like you actually know what he's saying like he talking right to you. Like some telekinesis." His eyes widened, "Is that some kind of ninja voodoo trick?"

Anna chuckled, "No, I don't know, I guess I just always know what he's trying to tell me. It's weird, but I just understand him."

"Has he ever hinted to you why he doesn't talk?" Duke asked.

"No, I always try to get him to tell me about himself but he just doesn't." She suddenly remembered the red cloth and pulled it out of her pocket, "But he gave me this when I asked him to tell me a story about his childhood."

Duke and Ripcord stared at it like it was ready to explode. "What do you think it is?" Ripcord asked.

"I don't know." Duke said.

"Yeah, me either, so I brought it with me to ask him at practice today." Anna said, stuffing the cloth back into her pocket, "He's so...frustrating sometimes."

"Speak of the devil." Duke said, "Hey Snake Eyes, what's happening?"

Snake Eyes stood there and motioned for Anna to come with him for a moment. She followed him out into the hall and said, "What's up?"

"Bring comfortable clothes to training today." Snake Eyes signed to her, "More comfortable than usual that is."

"So like, yoga clothes?" Anna asked.

"Something like that." Snake signed.

"Okie dokie, will do. Same time as usual still?"

"Yes." Snake said.

"Okay, see you then Snake."

He abruptly turned on his heel and walked the length of the hall, turning left when he reached the end. Anna watched him go and preceded to go back into the lounge.

"What was that about?" Duke asked.

"He told me to wear comfortable clothes, so I told him I'd wear my yoga stuff." Anna said, sitting down.  
"Yoga pants?" Ripcord asked, "Damn, Snake's getting some fun out of this."

Anna shot him a glare, "Please, Snake wouldn't be like that."

"Come on, Jinx, the guy's a virgin." Ripcord said, and when Duke made a grossed out face, he nodded, "Yeah I just threw that out there. I mean, the guy hasn't said a single thing his whole life, he barely has any friends, and I bet he hardly ever takes that suit off. Face it, he's never had any action before. So he has to be pretty hor-"

"Okay!" Duke shouted, cutting off Ripcord, "We don't need to hear about it!"

"I was going to say sometimes." Ripcord muttered.

"Snake is a guy too." Anna shrugged, "All guys think about that stuff, half the time it's the only thing they think at all, so why can't he?"

"He's just so," Ripcord thought for a bit, "not the sexual type."

"Ninja's are flexible," Anna said, "I bet he'd be good in bed."

"O-kay!" Duke said, covering his ears, "I'm out of this conversation!"

"Why don't you find out and tell me." Ripcord said, "Not that I'm interested in how he performs sexually, I just want to know if our mysterious ninja can be a freak."

"Okay, first of all, he's my instructor so I don't think it'll be anything more than that. Second, even I'm getting uncomfortable with where this conversation is going." Anna said.

"I got uncomfortable when the word 'virgin' was brought up." Duke said, his head laying on the table.

Anna looked up at the clock on the wall, "Well, I've gotta go get my training clothes on. See you later."

"Tell me if he's a freak!" Ripcord shouted as the door closed.

Anna laughed as she made her way back to her room. She'd never thought about Snake in that way, but now that Ripcord brought it up, she wondered if he could be good. Anna shook her head and rolled her eyes, Snake Eyes would never be interested in her.

As she changed into her yoga outfit, she remembered the red cloth, and took it out of her pants pocket. She sat down on the bed and gave it another examination. This time she found something. It was very minute, and in the bottom corner of the fabric. It was just a shade darker than the red of the cloth, and so faded it was almost brown.

Anna realised it was blood, just two small dots of blood on the fabric. She looked up and stared at the wall, dozens of theories running through her head. She hopped up and practically ran to the training room, perfectly intent on finding out exactly whose blood was on that cloth.

_**I just want to say another big thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited this story so far! You are all fabulous!**_

_**So I'm pretty sure there might be a G.I. Joe named Jinx, but I'm not 100%, I know there was a girl in Retaliation named Jinx, and I really liked that name so I threw it in here. There was a review that asked if I was going to give her a codename, and yes, yes I was! So there you go, I'll gradually start calling her Jinx more as Duke and Ripcord spread it around.**_

_**I wanted this chapter to be just mostly a filler so the whole thing isn't just Anna and Snake. I want her to have a relationship with the other Joes as well. So as much as I would love to have her and Snake Eyes in every chapter, I can't :(**_

_** So till next time, my friends, read, review, do what you like! **_


	4. Chapter 4

Storm Shadow stood waiting for Cobra Commander, his white robe billowing around his ankles as a fan blew on him. He stood in the middle of the room, perfectly still, his arms folded behind his back. The memory of his old master came back to his mind, one that haunted him for years. All he could remember was running away while everyone else ran forward. The last time he ever looked back, his sword brother Snake Eyes was staring at him with a burning gaze, one that said he would never forgive and never forget.

If only Snake Eyes knew that he wasn't the one who killed his master, but Zartan. Storm Shadow had learned to cope with his anger and loss, especially after he found out the man who took him in after his master was killed was none other than the murderer himself. Of course neither Zartan or Cobra Commander knew that he knew, and as Cobra Commander gradually started favoring Zartan over Storm Shadow for missions, he was beginning to doubt his decision to join Cobra Commander.

The door to the room Storm Shadow had been made to wait in opened, and Cobra Commander himself strode into the room. Storm Shadow bowed his head in the last ounce of respect he had for the commander.

"Ah, Storm Shadow, my most trusted ally." Cobra Commander hissed.

"Cobra Commander, what honor do I owe this visit?" Storm Shadow asked.

"I came to share with you my next plan." Cobra Commander said, "You are the last to know."

"I see."

Cobra Commander pulled a small vial out of his pocket, and gave it to Storm Shadow who said, "What is this?"

"I call it Nano-commanders." the commander said, "Once ingested, I can control every thought, every word, every action of the being. I plan to disperse it into the water supply, corrupting thousands of people with one dose. Within months the world will be mine."

Storm Shadow kept his gaze fixed on the small vial filled with green liquid. He didn't like the idea very well, there was room for error. He looked up, "Is there an antidote?"

"Naturally." Cobra Commander said, "Why, are you not so sure of my plan?"

"I was merely thinking of the possibility of one of us ingesting the serum." Storm Shadow said.

"Ah, I see. Fear not Storm Shadow, this time the Joes will not be so quick to stop us. I intend to break into their base and corrupt General Hawk with the serum, they will be leaderless and too caught up with trying to help their general to realize it is taking the world over as they speak." Cobra Commander said devilishly.

Again Storm Shadow doubted the plan, he thought Cobra Commander would have learned not to underestimate the Joes, "Who will be the one to distribute it into the water supply?"

"You were meant to, but Zartan assured me that he could handle the mission." Cobra Commander said, "I decided to choose him."

Storm Shadow's hate of Zartan rose again, anger spreading through him, "He's failed almost every attempted mission!"

"I will hear no more of it." Cobra Commander said, "Stay here and wait for further instructions." With that, Cobra Commander exited the room, the door hissing shut behind him.

Storm Shadow clenched his fists, willing himself not to throw the table sitting before him into the nearest wall. He had chosen Zartan. That was the only thing he could think, that he had been replaced by Zartan of all people. He was a coward and a failure whereas Storm Shadow had succeeded with almost every mission asked of him. How could Cobra Commander be so smart yet so foolish?

Storm Shadow angrily marched from the room, his jacket flapping behind him. He had had enough of Cobra, enough of Zartan, and enough of Cobra Commander. It was high time he found his brother and told him the truth about who had murdered their master. He only hoped Snake Eyes would listen.

_**Just want to thank everyone again for the reviews! You are all fantastic!**_

_** I figured I would need to start with Cobra's next world domination attempt sometime, so here it is! And dun dun dun! Storm Shadow has turned from Cobra to the good side! And sorry about such the short length on this one, but I didn't intend for it to be too long. And I do hope the world domination plan isn't a dumb one, but it was hard for me to think of something scientifical. :P**_


	5. Chapter 5

Anna strode into the training room to find Duke punching the living daylights out of a punching bag, heavy metal music blaring through the speakers in the room. His punches were timed to the music, sweat pouring down his shirtless back.

Anna switched off the music, and suddenly everything was silent beside the few punches Duke did before turning in surprise, "Jinx, what's up?"

She rolled her eyes at her new nickname everyone had adopted, and smiled, "Where's Snake? It's our practice time."

"Oh!" Duke said, snapping his fingers. He grabbed a towel and wiped his face, slinging it around his shoulders, "I came in real early this morning to do a little workout before you guys came in, and he was in here doing some moves with his sword. He handed this to me and left. I took a wild guess and said it was for you."

She took the small envelope out of his hand and saw that it was already opened. She arched an eyebrow, "A wild guess?"

He smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

Anna shook her head and opened the envelope. She took one look at it and sighed, "Figures."

"What?" Duke asked frowning.

"It's typed." Anna said, making Duke burst with laughter. Snake Eyes's note said that General Hawk had sent him on a last minute mission early that morning and he would be returning sometime that night. He said she could train if she wanted to, but he didn't figure she would so he gave her the day off.

Anna silently did a little dance and looked up at Duke, "I've got the day off!"

"Nice, so what are you going to do?" Duke asked.

Anna thought for a moment, "You know what? I don't know, I'm used to hanging out with Snake all day."

"Well, you could come with me car shopping." Duke said.

"Car shopping?" She asked.

"Yeah, Hawk's sending me on a top secret mission to find a certain car for a certain someone around the base for a completely different mission." Duke explained.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Can't tell you, top secret remember? I can't disclose any information until we get there." Duke said.

"So you and Hawk are the only ones who know?"

"And a few higher ups pulling some strings to get the car for us."

"Sounds fun, I'll tag along." She said.

"Suit up then!" Duke said.

Anna stood there staring blankly at him. He had turned away from her to gather his things and when he turned around he returned her look, "You have a suit don't you?"

"No, no one gave me one." She said.

"Come with me, I'm sure Hawk's been having them work on a suit for you." Duke said, pushing through the doors. She followed him through endless hallways making small talk about her training with Snake Eyes and how it was going. Finally they arrived at a large room with rows of black suits hanging on hangers, people were doing various experiments on them, submerging them in water, and others searing them with fire.

"Hey Glitch, I was just stopping in with my friend Jinx to see if there was any sort of suit made up for her." Duke said politely, giving the small black haired girl a bright smile.

Glitch pushed her glasses further up her nose and said, "I don't have any memory of a Jinx."

"Oh, Anna, her name's Anna. She's training with Snake Eyes." Duke said.

"Ah yes, the assistant of our ninja." Glitch said, "Right this way, I just finished it yesterday." They followed her through rows of suits and various weapons. Glitch was one of the heads of the weapons department, her specialty in making the Joe suits and assuring they were tested for safety.

"Snake Eyes was sure to give me correct measurements and material he wanted for your suit. He was also very thorough with me on the color being black." Glitch said, pulling a pair of black pants out of one of the racks, "Here are your pants, flame proof and waterproof." She paused to pull out an upper body piece of black armor, "Now this is the same material as Snake Eyes's armor. It's bullet proof and can stop a small blade, I can't really do much to stop a sword."

Anna examined her suit and smiled, "Gosh thanks Glitch, this is really cool."

"And last but not least, here's this." She handed her a small black piece of material. Anna unfolded it and found it was a mask. Snake Eyes really was thorough with his suit design.

"Thanks Glitch, we'll tell you how the suit works when we get back." Duke said.

"Trust me, it will work wonders." Glitch smiled.

They exited the room and Duke turned to her, "Okay, now suit up."

She ran into the nearest unoccupied room and changed into her suit. The pants were very form-fitting along with the bullet proof vest. There were two scabbards on her back for her katana, and hopefully a new one whenever Snake Eye's decided she could handle it. She examined herself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall.

"Watch out Snake Eyes, we've got a new ninja on the block!" Anna said, striking a pose. She laughed at herself and left, leaving her clothes behind, not thinking twice about them.

"Wow." Duke said when she emerged, "You look great."

"Thanks." Anna beamed, "Now lets go get this car!"

They stopped by her room to pick up her katana and then found their way down to the flight deck. Duke was dressed in his Joe gear, a gun strapped to his back.

"Hey Duke?" Anna asked once they were in the air.

"Yeah?"

"If we're going to a car show, shouldn't we dress normal?" Anna asked.

"That's why Glitch gave me these." Duke said, producing two small black buttons,

"Here put this on."

She took it from him, snapping it on her collar like he did on his own. She frowned, "What are these?"

"Hologram projectors." Duke said, pulling out a small device from his pocket. He pushed a button, and immediately Anna's suit and Katana vanished and in place were normal civilian clothes.

"How'd you do that?" She asked.

"Glitch programed an outfit into these devices, all the measurements and stuff, for each member of the special forces Joes who are in the field more than others." Duke said.

"Way cool." Anna said.

They sat in the plane for about an hour when they started descending. They soon found themselves walking out on a private air strip, into an awaiting car that took them to the car show Duke had told her about.

Inside were thousands of people slowly walking around looking at various fancy cars. Anna was in heaven. Her father had been a mechanic when she still lived with him. He also had a dangerous side job. He was a driver for criminals who would contact him to drive them to safety after they committed a crime. He had never wanted that life for her, but he had still taught her how to outdrive the cops nonetheless.

Someone had given Duke a pair of keys when he entered the place, and he seemed to know exactly where the designated car was, but got distracted every now and then at the others around him. "So what exactly is this car?" Anna asked.

Duke held up the keys, pushing a button. To her right, Anna saw car lights flash and Duke smiled, "Ah, there she is."

"You didn't answer my question." Anna said.

He steered her around a group of people and said, "This, Jinx, is the Bugatti Veyron SS, also known as the fastest car on the planet."

Anna stared in shock, it had been her dream to see the fastest car, but now that the Joes owned it, she practically felt like she was floating.

Duke handed her the keys, "It's all yours to drive home if you want."

"No way." Anna said.

"Yeah, here's the keys." Duke said.

Anna snatched them out of his hand, "I don't know what we need this car for, but this is the greatest first mission I've ever been on."

"You've been on a first mission before?"

"Well, no, but it's still the greatest."

"Can I trust you driving with me in the passenger seat?" Duke asked.

"You can trust me that I'll get you back in one piece." Anna said, "But Daddy didn't raise a slow driver."

_** Ok, so this was definitely a filler chapter, and I promise we'll see more Snake Eye's action in the next chapter! I just wanted to say another thank you to everyone's reviews!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Snake Eyes stood outside, gazing up into the sun, his arms crossed, leaning against the doors to the Joe's temporary headquarters while the other was having it's yearly upgrading. He was waiting patiently for Anna to return with Duke after having discovered they had went on a mission while he was gone. He was anxious to introduce her to an old acquaintance he had met up with during his mission for Hawk.

There was a sudden purr of an engine and every head on base turned to see a sleek black car come speeding into the courtyard. It came to a halting stop, and Snake Eyes could hear the bass pounding on the inside. The passenger door opened and the song Bugatti filled the courtyard, it's bass shaking the windows of the buildings around them.

Duke stepped out, his face a mix of emotions, mostly horror and terror. He stumbled over to one of the men and sighed, obviously glad to be out of the car. The other driver's side door opened, and a beaming Anna stepped out, clad in black armor like Snake Eyes.

There were a slew of cat whistles from the men standing around, and she rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. She stopped in front of Snake Eyes and beamed up at him, "Like my ride?"

He dipped his head to the side to say he thought it was okay. Anna laughed, "You secretly like it, I know it."

Snake looked past her at Duke and motioned for her to look. She turned slightly and they both looked to where Duke was standing with a group of men, his face pale and eyes wide. Anna laughed and turned back to Snake who signed to her, "Looks like you did a number on him."

"He just didn't think I was as good of a driver as I am." Anna said smugly.

Snake Eyes bent his head to look up at the clear sky, soon after Anna did the same, "What are you looking at?"

"Follow me." Snake Eyes signed, "I have someone for you to meet."

"Oh goody." Anna said, following him into headquarters, "Who is it?"

"An old acquaintance." Snake signed.

He lead Anna to the Joe's interrogation room, stopping before the huge one-foot thick metal door that concealed the stranger she was to meet. Snake typed in the code that unlocked the door and swung it open to reveal a small dingy grey room. In the middle of it was a table, and seated at the table was a man with deep black hair. Anna was surprised to see him dressed in what looked to be armor like her's and Snake's, only white. He stared straight ahead of him but smiled when they entered, his eyes slowly leaving the wall to set their gaze on Anna, "Ah, if it isn't my sword brother." he said, his voice sending shivers down Anna's spine.

"Storm Shadow." Anna breathed.

"So you've heard of me!" Storm Shadow said happily.

"Just a little bit." Anna said, moving to stand in front of him, "Just enough to know your not good business."

"Oh, brother," Storm Shadow said to Snake Eyes, "you never had anything good to say about me have you?"

"Oh he doesn't talk bad about you," Anna said, "he actually has a lot of respect for you. It's just that you killed your master, so naturally he wouldn't like that too much."

"You see, that's what I came here to tell you about." Storm Shadow said, leaning back in his seat.

"You mean the Joe's didn't capture you?" Anna asked.

"No," Storm Shadow laughed, "no, I came of my own free will."

Anna looked at Snake Eyes who signed, "It's true, he found me on my mission today."

"What does he want?" She asked him.

"Even I don't know that." Snake Eyes signed, "He wouldn't tell me."

"Well then, why don't you enlighten us?" Anna said, turning back to Storm Shadow.

"I came to reveal the truth about the murder of our master." Storm Shadow said.

Anna saw Snake Eyes' stiffen, his fists clenching. He moved closer to Storm Shadow and signed, "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't kill our master." Storm Shadow said.

Snake Eyes slammed his hands down on the table, making Anna jump, and as angrily as you can get using sign language, said, "That is not a matter to lie to me about!"

Anna had never seen Snake get so mad, and over the words 'I didn't kill our master', she thought he'd be happy more than anything.

Storm Shadow held up both his hands as if in surrender, "I do not lie, brother."

"Then if it was not you, who was it?" Snake Eyes asked.

"Zartan." Storm Shadow said, his eyes suddenly taking on a slight glint of fury, "He disguised himself and made me trust him. After our master was killed I ran to take comfort in him. He became my new mentor. It was only after he revealed his true identity that I knew it was him."

"Who's Zartan?" Anna chimed in.

"The lowest rat of a person you could ever find." Storm Shadow said. Snake Eyes turned away and started to pace the room. Anna watched him slam his fists into the wall and touch his head to the cement. She suddenly remembered him telling her the story where he'd had the chance to kill Zartan but took pity on him and let him go, not knowing he was the murderer of the person Snake Eyes loved the most.

She put a hand on his back, "Snake?"

He turned his head slowly towards her, "I could have killed him."

"It still wouldn't have brought your master back." Anna said, "You can't beat yourself up about it."

Snake's hands dropped to his sides, making no effort to sign anything to her. She suddenly found herself hugging him, she didn't know why, she hadn't even thought about it. But her arms wrapped around his waist and her face buried in his chest. Snake Eyes stood still for a moment, before gently putting his arms around her.

"It'll be ok Snake, you'll get him someday." Anna said.

"This is all very touching," Storm Shadow said, "but do you think I could get out of these?" He slammed his hands on the table, revealing an intricate knot of chains binding his hands together.

Snake Eyes broke their embrace and pounded on the mirror-window. A moment later, a Joe came with a set of keys, starting the process of unlocking Storm Shadow.

Anna hadn't moved from the spot where she and Snake Eyes had embraced. She looked over to where Storm Shadow was eagerly awaiting his release. Her eyes traveled to Snake, who stood facing the wall, his hands clasped behind his back and head bowed. She knew she should be feeling bad for him, what with the news Storm Shadow had broke to him. But all she could think of was the feeling in her stomach as he had held her.

_**Oofta guys sorry about that wait there! I had gotten a severe case of writer's block, but hopefully we're over that now! Another problem that delayed this was that my boyfriend broke up with me. :( It was the longest relationship I've ever had and it just broke my heart, but I'm finally starting to feel a little better. Not quite to the point of single and ready to mingle though!**_

_**So forgive me for the wait, but here it is folks! Chapter 6!**_


	7. Chapter 7

Anna layed sprawled out on her bed, staring at the spinning ceiling fan. Parker was playing on her TV, and she had watched it for the most part. Jason Stathem was, as usual, incredibly sexy in the movie, and it just made it all the more better that Jennifer Lopez was in it.

Anna still couldn't get over the fact that Storm Shadow was on their side now. She wanted to believe he was good, but part of her still watched him with a careful eye. She hadn't seen Snake in almost a day, he had cancelled their training session and hadn't spoken a word to her since.

She tried to think of what he was feeling. He had been lied to his entire life about something that had haunted him every single day. She knew he blamed himself for his master's death, even though he rarely spoke of it.

Anna sat up and turned Parker off, sighing, she really couldn't get into the movie worrying about Snake Eyes. She knew it was silly to worry about him, but he was her friend and she still hated to see him like this. Everyone had said Snake Eyes was the most mysterious person they'd ever met, and that it was nearly impossible to figure out what he was feeling. She could though, for some reason it was easy for her to read him. Maybe that's why he had chosen her to be his partner.

There was a knock at the door just as she slipped into a yellow hoodie. Anna padded over to the door and swung it open to reveal Snake Eyes in the flesh.

"Snake, I was just going to go find you." Anna said.

"May I come in?" he signed.

She stood aside so he could enter, "Of course you can. Want some coffee?"

He shook his head, sitting at the end of her bed. She plopped next to him and they sat in silence for a while. Anna tried to think of something to say, she wanted to ask him about the red cloth he had given her, but she had a feeling it would open even more wounds inside him.

"So," Anna started, "how about the weather?"

Snake stayed silent.

"It's kind of gloomy out there." she said.

Still nothing.

"Well I know you didn't come here to talk about the weather, so, what did you want?" She asked.

"You." Snake signed.

She arched an eyebrow and ignored the odd feeling that rose in her stomach again, "Well here I am, what can I do for you?"

"Tell me a story." He said, "The fondest memory you have."

"Snake...this isn't going to make you feel better." Anna said.

"Tell me."

She thought for a while and decided to tell him about a woman she had helped after an earthquake had destroyed her home. Anna smiled, "Ok, so there was this old woman named Rose. She was my neighbor, but we lived a half mile away from each other not even two minutes out of town. Well, there was an earthquake that hit, they said it wasn't a very bad one, but it still destroyed homes and businesses. We were lucky because our house wasn't harmed, but Rose's house was. She had managed to get herself out of the debris, but her dog was still inside. We had come over to make sure she was okay, along with a bunch of other people in town because Rose was the type of person that everyone loved. She was just sitting there crying because her dog was dead. We all tried to comfort her, because Rose's dog was all she had, her husband died in Vietnam. Well, we were trying to get her to come to my house when all of a sudden this dog started barking, and it was coming from inside her house." Anna smiled, "Everyone helped remove all the boards and furniture and what was left of her house. Finally we found that little dog, safe and sound sitting in the bathtub. You have no idea how happy Rose was. She had lost everything, her home, her clothes, her pictures, but she was just so grateful her dog had lived. It was the most touching thing I'd ever seen."

She looked up at Snake who had been watching her tell the story, "That's my fondest memory."

"That's beautiful." he said.

Anna smiled at the thought that the ninja would say something was beautiful, "It was."

"I like talking to you." Snake signed.

"Well, I'm always here." She smiled.

He looked at the floor, then stood heading to the door.

"Snake?" Anna said as he reached for the handle.

He turned around to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

Snake Eyes nodded, "I am now." With that he left.

Anna sat on the bed wondering what had happened. She decided not to think about it, and turned Parker back on. No sooner had she finally gotten into it, there was another knock at the door.

Anna rolled herself off the bed and opened the door.

"Storm Shadow?" She asked, "They actually let you roam around this place?"

"With limits." the white ninja said, "May I come in?"

"You ninjas have impeccable manners." Anna said, stepping aside, "Want some coffee? I've got a Keurig!"

"Why not?" Storm Shadow said, sitting on her bed the way Snake did.

"Am I just a ninja magnet or something? Snake was just in here." Anna said, starting up the Keurig.

"Was he?" Storm Shadow asked, "He doesn't say much does he?"

Anna shot him a dirty look, "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"One of my greatest jokes." Storm Shadow said sarcastically.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"Well, I started off in the lounge but there wasn't really a warm welcome there." Storm Shadow said, "So I decided to find you since you were the first person I met here."

"Should I be flattered?"

"Not necessarily."

She arched an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"  
Storm Shadow smiled thinly, "Nothing at all."

"You're weird." She said, "Well, I guess since I've never met you I can't really judge you

now can I?"

"I'm sure you've heard everyone's opinions of me."

"Oh yes." She said, snorting.

"You didn't judge me from those?"

"I've never met you before. I didn't see what those men saw you do. All I know is that you've come here with good intentions, I hope. So I can't really be mad at you for something I've never seen." Anna said.

"That's very kind of you." Storm Shadow said.

"You've really caused Snake some grief though." she said, "He cancelled practice on me today, Snake never cancels practice."

Storm Shadow's eyes softened for just a moment, "Our master meant a lot to him. His death was hard for him to handle."

"Why didn't you tell him sooner?" Anna asked.

The ninja shrugged, "I never thought he would have given me another chance like he has."

"Then you obviously don't know Snake." Anna said, handing Storm Shadow a cup of coffee.

Storm Shadow sipped it, placing it on the dresser next to her televison and sat in silence watching Parker. She watched him do so before sitting next to him, "This is a good movie."

Storm Shadow arched an eyebrow, "Is it?"

"Yep." Anna said.

Storm Shadow stayed there and watched the whole movie, talking nonchalantly with Anna. It was a light conversation, one Anna actually found herself enjoying his company. When the movie was done, Storm Shadow rose and said goodnight.

"Night." Anna said, turning the tv off.

Storm Shadow smiled and said, "Better not tell anyone about this, they might not look at you the same."

"Secret's safe with me." Anna said.

**_Alrighty folks, I got chapter 7 done! Hot dog! :)_**

**_I just want to throw a shoutout/ thank you to QueenPapal! You review was probably one of my most favorites out of any story I've written! And yes, I'm a girl, not a gay guy! Not saying I have anything against gay guys though, I have a friend that's gay! :)_**

_** Adios for now! **_


	8. Chapter 8

Anna woke early the next morning, stretching and groaning herself awake. She hadn't realized how long Storm Shadow had stayed the night before, and never got to finish her movie. She decided to skip her morning lounge chat with the guys and went straight to the showers, bringing her training clothes with.

On her way she met a soaking wet, and tantalizingly shirtless Storm Shadow. She didn't deny he was undoubtedly one of the hottest people she'd ever seen, Asian or not. She'd never been one for Asian men, but Storm Shadow was definitely an exception in her book.

"What, you just walk around shirtless all the time?" Anna asked him.

He arched an eyebrow, giving her a sly grin, "Does it bother you?"

Anna snorted, "You wish."

"Maybe I do." Storm Shadow said mischievously before brushing past her and whispering in her ear, "Maybe I don't."

Anna rolled her eyes and continued on her way. Her shower was nice and long, but one glance at the clock made the relaxing moment end. She wanted to surprise Snake by coming early, possibly even catching him off-guard in an attack.

She snuck into the darkened training room, only the center was softly lit up. There were hand to hand combat dummies placed meticulously around the room, and Snake Eyes stood in the middle of all of them, his swords held at the his sides.

Anna stayed still, wanting to watch what was going on. With blinding speed, Snake lept at the dummies, slashing and punching and kicking them across the room. She watched in awe. She knew Snake was capable of powerful and incredible things, but she had never really seen him in action before. He occasionally demonstrated a few moves for her, but never like this.

Finally when he was done, he stood in the same exact spot he started in, swords back in their sheaths. She silently padded over to him reaching a hand out to put on his shoulder, when he whirled, grabbing her arm. She felt herself lifted into the air, and landed hard on her back, something heavy holding her to the ground.

Anna looked up to see Snake straddling her, his hand gently around her neck, the other held above her face. "Well, this is quite the predicament." she said.

"Never let your guard down." Snake signed, rising to his feet. Anna vaguely had the thought of wanting him to stay straddling her, when he grabbed her hand and hoisted her to her feet. They were inches apart, Anna staring at Snake, and Snake, well, hopefully staring at Anna. Neither moved. She became aware that her hand was still clasped in Snake's and her breath caught.

Snake's hand left her's, and he stepped back, putting his hands on his hips.

"So, what's on today's menu?" Anna asked, breaking the silence.

"Nothing." Snake signed, "The Joes have a mission to go on."

"Oh," Anna said, "I still don't get to come?"

"I'm sorry, Anna, I've told General Hawk I think you're ready to go on a mission, but he still hasn't listened yet." Snake said, "I'm sorry."

"Oh well, I'll just lift or something." She said faking her cheer. She longed to go with them, she watched them leave every day wanting to go with, feeling left behind.

"I have to go." Snake said.

"Okay," she said, "be careful Snake."

"Aren't I always?" He asked.

"I hope so!" She said smiling and punching his arm, "Have fun."

Anna slowly sulked her way to her room, bummed because she still hadn't been chosen to do a mission yet. She was obviously well beyond ready to go on one, even Snake said she was! She groaned loudly while pushing her door open.

On her bed, sprawled out like he owned the place, was Storm Shadow. He laid with an arm behind his head, flipping through channels on her TV, sipping on a so ad from her fridge.

"Do you just show up whenever you feel like it?" Anna asked exasperatedly, "I mean I would understand if we were BFF's or something, but I met you yesterday."

"I like it here." He replied taking a long swig of his soda.

"I'm flattered." Anna muttered.

"You're quite ornery today aren't you?" Storm Shadow asked.

She shot a glare at him, "Don't push it, Storm Shadow."

"Let me guess, Snake Eyes didn't share your silly little infatuation you have with him." Storm Shadow said.

Anna gaped at him, "My what?"

"Don't pretend you're not attracted to him."

"Um I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Anna sputtered, "And for your information I didn't get chosen to go on a mission with the other Joes."

"That's rough, I know how that goes." Storm Shadow said, his eyes glazing over in thought.

Anna watched him for a while before saying, "Something on your mind crouching tiger?"

Storm Shadow laughed, "I've never heard that one before."

"Why are you in my room?" Anna asked.

"You're the only one who has the capability of holding a decent conversation around here. Not that I don't mind talking about the various excursions with women I have had, but talking about it every moment of every day gets ridiculous."

"You've talked with the other men?" Anna asked.

"I've tried, but in the end I usually sit alone with my thoughts."

"More like you eavesdrop." Anna said sitting down next to him.

The ninja shot her a beaming grin that she couldn't help but find sexy, and said, "And you don't?"

She squinted her eyes at him, "Touche."

"This show is dreadful." Storm Shadow said.

"What are you, an English professor?" Anna asked, "And it's Dragonball Z, these guys are all Asian, you'd think you'd like that."

"The only character I like is Vegeta." Storm Shadow said.

"Boy I wonder why." Anna muttered, "Now don't think you can keep coming in my room whenever you want, people might get the wrong idea."

"Why should I care what they think of me?"

"Um, I wasn't concerned with what they thought of you, I was concerned of what they thought of me!" Anna said, "I'm a Joe, I can't be fraternizing with the enemy."

"The enemy, huh?" Storm Shadow said, "I see how it goes."

She punched him in the stomach, "You know what I mean."

"Well I suppose I should leave then since my presence only causes you trouble." Storm Shadow said, sitting up and heading for the door.

"Thank you." Anna said, sprawling out on her bed, "And next time if I'm not in my room, don't come in!"

"Face it, you like when I'm here." Storm Shadow said.

"I like it when Snake Eyes is here." Anna said.

Storm Shadow smiled, "I'll be back."

"Don't bother!" Anna shouted as the door closed.

She sighed, enjoying the peace and quiet, sitting back to watch Dragonball Z. She looked at the door where Storm Shadow had just left, feeling slightly bad for kicking him out, because in all honesty, she did like the company. Anna sighed in frustration and hopped off the bed, swinging the door open, "Storm Shadow!"

He was suspiciously only half way down the hall when he turned around, "Yes?"

"I thought you'd want to maybe finish your episode of Dragonball Z." She muttered.

Storm Shadow smiled, "Well thank you."

_**So I was totally going to have this chapter up yesterday but I was running late because I went to see the new Star Trek. Fantastic movie by the way, totally awesome! And I mean, come on, Chris Pines is totally hot! He and Jai Courtney are my two favorite hotties right now! :)**_

_**Sorry for the lack of Snake and Anna action these past couple chapters, but he will for sure make more appearances coming up. I promise!**_

_**So here ya go! Chapter 8!**_


	9. Chapter 9

Snake Eyes sat stoically in the plane seat next to Duke. Everyone was chatting and making small talk to keep their minds off the impending mission. Their objective was to rescue an FBI agent taken hostage by Saudi-Arabian terrorists. In all, there were eight men.

"Why don't they just let the SEAL's do this?" Ripcord asked.

"Cause everyone knows the Joes will get it done without any casualties." Duke said smiling.

"I saw Act of Valor, Duke, those guys got it done." Ripcord said.

"Well then maybe you should be a SEAL." Roadblock said from a few seats down.

"For your information I wanted to go Air Force before Duke drug me into the Joes." Ripcord said.

"What does that have to do with the SEAL's?" Roadblock asked.

"Never mind, you wouldn't be able to understand with such a thick skull." Ripcord sniffed.

Duke chuckled and checked his watch, "T minus five minutes, guys."

They all fell into silence. Snake Eyes drew his swords and spun them around so he could inspect them. He had made sure he sharpened them before leaving, and had even sharpened them some more in the beginning of their plane ride.

He felt bad Anna hadn't been able to come, he knew how much she'd been dying to go. She had practiced hard in their training, and he had the confidence that she would be able to handle the pressure. He wondered what she was doing.

"Alright team!" Duke shouted, "Heads up!"

They all rose, standing in a single file line, Snake Eyes behind Duke. Duke faced them and said, "Alright everyone knows the plan, right? We go in, find the girl Marta, get out. There will be a chopper waiting for us three clicks out, so when we get the girl we have to haul ass out of this place. There will be heavy fire, these guys were under surveillance for military purposes and were found to be heavily armed, so watch each other's backs. As far as we know, this woman is being tortured and may not even be conscience, in which case Roadblock, I'm counting on you to see her to safety."

"Yes sir." Roadblock nodded.

"If we are not to the LZ by 0600 hours, they will leave us." Duke said, "Now let's get in there and save a life."

"Hooah!" They shouted.

Duke gave them one last smile before turning around as the plane door opened. There was a brief shuffle as they all checked their parachutes to make sure they were secure. They also donned their helmets that would bring oxygen to them while they dropped. Snake Eyes kept his gaze fixed on Duke's back, waiting.

Duke shot forward and jumped. Snake didn't hesitate as he followed suit, jumping out of the plane into nothing. He was weightless as he fell, the wind rushing around him in a loud roar. He dropped next to Duke who gave a thumbs up sign. Snake did the same and watched as the others gradually dropped to their level. They formed a circle and hooked arms, finally dropping below the clouds.

Below them lay a compound of concrete houses. It wasn't massive, but it would still cause them grief finding the woman. In their briefing, General Hawk had pointed out the room she would most likely be held in. Snake sought it out with his eyes, trying to find it before they unlinked arms.

Duke patted his arm, and Snake patted Roadblock's, signalling they were ready to separate and pull chutes. Snake let go of Duke and Roadblock, as did everyone else, and floated further from each other, still maintaining their circle.

Snake pulled his cord, and the black parachute ripped out, pulling him upward. The others were scattered at different heights, but their circle was still intact. This was what Snake loved the most, having a team like this that were some of the best soldiers in the world.

They floated gently to the ground, landing in various places. Snake listened for the familiar cricket noise that signalled where Duke was. He found him squatting next to a tree with Scarlett, who smiled at him, "Good to see you Snake."

He nodded in agreement and squatted next to her, waiting for the others. They came silently, falling to their knees in a small circle next to Duke. After the last person assembled Duke whispered, "Let's do it."

They rose as one, guns up and at the ready. Snake Eyes drew his swords and followed Duke, who had his scope trained on the door that would be their entrance.

"Scarlett." Duke whispered as they lined the wall that surrounded the compound. She left her spot and moved silently over to him. From a small pack at her side she withdrew an odd electrical device, sticking it to the door. She quickly punched in a code, and there was a slight popping noise. The whole compound was locked electrically, and Scarlett had invented a device to override their system.

Scarlett removed the device from the door and placed it back in her pack, and pulled slightly on the door, which opened. She smiled, "We're in."

"Great job Scar." Duke whispered, patting her back. She smiled at him, returning to her spot in their line. As she passed Snake, he held out a fist. Scarlett hit it with hers and winked at him.

"Here we go." Duke said after checking his watch.

He slowly opened the door and turned around disappearing through the doorway. Snake Eyes followed him, swords at the ready. They crept through the alleyway, not meeting any resistance. Duke lead the way, his scope trained on the rooftops above them. Snake Eyes kept a watchful eye out for any movement he saw.

There was a round of laughter ahead, and Duke held up a hand for them to stop and drop. Snake squatted behind Duke and they watched as a group of men passed them a block away. The building thankfully provided shadow for them to take cover in.

Duke rose and took a right at the next alleyway.

There was a shout from behind them. Snake Eyes turned to see an Arabic man standing with a gun pointed at Roadblock, who was the tail end of their line.

The man shouted more, but Snake Eyes couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Scar." someone whispered.

"He is asking what we're doing." Scarlett said.

The man shouted one more time, then shot a couple rounds off his gun. They hit the wall next to Roadblock, most likely meant for him, and Roadblock shot back with a small handgun. The man hit the ground and didn't move, but the gunshots had echoed through the compound attracting the attention of the others.

"We have to move, now." Duke said, moving quickly along the wall. Someone ran out of an alley, but Duke gunned him down without hesitation.

They kept moving, but shouts told them they didn't have much time before the enemy found them. As they passed an ally, Snake saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He hit the person's gun upwards as shots rang out, shots that would have hit Duke and left them leaderless. He swung his other fist upward into the man's chest, knocking him backward, and Ripcord shot him several times in the chest with his gun.

Duke nodded to Snake Eyes before continuing on. Bullets started raining over them, hitting the concrete buildings around them. Finally Duke made the signal that he had found the building thought to be the one housing Marta. Duke rammed the door open with his shoulder and quickly entered.

Several armed men were inside and started firing at them. Duke stumbled back and dropped to one knee, signalling to Snake that he had been shot. Snake lunged toward him, pushing his head down as the others entered and shot over them. Some of the men took refuge behind an upturned table. Ripcord and a recruit named Jace knelt next to Duke and Snake.

The enemy men started firing again. Behind them, Roadblock started shooting with a savage roar. "They're firing from behind!" Snake Eyes heard Scarlett shout, "I've got your back Roadblock!"

"Sir are you hit?" Jace was shouting at Duke.

The Captain pointed at his shoulder, "Just a shoulder wound! I'll make it! How many are behind the table?"

"Three!" Ripcord shouted over the gunfire.

Duke looked up at Snake Eyes, "Snake?"

He nodded, picking up his swords, and looked back at Roadblock. "I got your ninja ass covered!" Roadblock shouted, "Go!"

Snake Eyes jumped up and sprinted to the table. He grabbed hold of the top and somersaulted over it, landing behind the men. They looked behind them and then back in front where Roadblock shot meaningless rounds into the wall to their right, obviously confused as what to do.

Snake basically pistol whipped one man in the face with his sword, knocking him out cold. They others brought up their guns to shoot, but Roadblock landed a bullet in one of their skulls. Snake kicked the other's gun out of his hands and landed a kick to his chest. While he struggled for breath, Snake hit him in the throat, rendering him unconscious.

Snake Eyes held a thumbs up and they proceeded into the building.

"Jace!" Duke shouted, "Stay behind with Scarlett and keep them off our asses!"

The young soldier nodded and took cover on the other side of the doorway, firing at the enemies with Scarlett.

Snake Eyes entered a small room where he saw a woman tied down to a table. Her clothes were covered in blood, and her face was swollen with cuts and bruises. As he moved closer he could see the clumps of blood dried in her hair. He slowly lifted her shirt and saw deep cuts and burns, some of the burns from a brand of some sort.

He put her shirt back down, and motioned for Roadblock.

Marta stirred, making Snake whirl back around and bend over her. She opened her eyes and squinted at him, "Please." she rasped.

"Untie her." Duke shouted, his finger stuck in his wound.

"No." Marta said, her eyes growing wide even though it probably pained her, "Don't." She weakly struggled, "You can't."

Snake looked at Duke who nodded, "We have to hurry, I don't know how long Scarlett will be able to handle them."

Snake Eyes untied her feet, and cut away the bonds holding her hands. Marta jumped up, screaming in pain, and took hold of Snake Eyes's throat. Her hold was surprisingly strong, and he found himself gripping her arms to make her let go.

"I'm sorry." She said, tears spilling from her eyes, "He's making me."

Marta's hands dropped from Snake's throat, and she turned to Duke. From somewhere in the mess of bloody clothing, she produced a handgun and pointed it straight at Duke.

Snake lunged as fast as he could and managed to push her to the side, her bullet hitting the wall.

"Marta, we're here to help you!" Duke shouted.

"It's not me!" Marta cried, "It's him!"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's an organization called Cobra." she said, tears still spilling out of her eyes, "They've implanted some kind of thing they call nano-commanders inside me. They're controlling everything I do!"

The Joes looked at her shocked, obviously not knowing what to do. Snake hesitated for a moment before striking her in the back of the head with the butt end of his sword. Ripcord looked at him like he was crazy, holding up his gun, "What was that for man?"

"He was stopping her from killing us." Duke said, "Roadblock?"

"Got it sir." Roadblock said, scooping Marta's limp form into his arms.

"Let's blow this popsicle stand." Duke said. The Joes filed into the front room, where Scarlett and Jace were still shooting at the enemy soldiers. Duke put a hand on Snake's shoulder, "You did what you had to do."

Snake nodded at him in thanks, feeling horrible for injuring her already injured body.

"Duke, I only have one clip left." Scarlett said, holding up the black clip.

"We're getting out of here now." Duke said sternly.

"They've got this building totally surrounded, Duke." Scarlett said giving him a look that said she wasn't sure they'd succeed this mission.

Duke stood still thinking for a moment before turning to Joker and Ace, who were twin recruits. "Fire a round into the street."

"Sir, General Hawk said only for extreme measures." Joker said, unsure of Duke's orders.

"I'd say these are some pretty goddamn extreme measures!" Ripcord said.

"It's okay, kid," Duke said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, "I'll take full responsibility if Hawk gives you any flack."

Joker nodded, still uneasy about his duty. He set up his grenade launcher and adjusted the length to only a couple meters. Ace held the grenade over the launcher and Joker nodded. Ace dropped the grenade into the launcher and they both covered their ears. The grenade went soaring into the night, landing on top of the building across from them. There were a few Arabic shouts before the blast went off, rocking the buildings around it.

"Go, go, go!" Duke shouted, and Jace lead the group out of the building.

Duke retook the lead, with Snake Eyes on his tail. They stuck to the side of the buildings in the shadows, shots ringing out, and now blasts from explosives boomed around them. "I've got your back, Snake!"

Snake went along disarming anyone who tried to sneak up on them. Suddenly Snake Eyes was struck in the side of the head by the butt end of a gun. He stumbled sideways, and was hit in the back with brute force. Snake fell to his left knee and turned to see the gun pointed at him. Scarlett kicked the man, but he punched her in the face, sending her staggering back.

The man aimed his rifle at her. With blinding speed, Snake Eyes jumped up and threw himself in front of Scarlett. Three bullets tore into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. He stumbled backward, struggling to gain his breath, and dropped his swords.

"Shit!" Ripcord spat, shooting the arabic man until he hit the ground.

"Snake?" Scarlett appeared in his vision, "Are you alright?"

Snake Eyes nodded, struggling to his feet. He could feel the blood running along his stomach under his suit, and looked down to find some already soaking into his suit.

"What happened?" Duke shouted.

"Snake got hit!" Ripcord shouted.

Duke started running toward him, but Snake Eyes waved his hand forward, signalling to keep going. Duke gave him a worried look but turned and kept running.

Snake clutched his chest as they ran, pain tearing through his body. He could hardly catch his breath, and black dots started to speckle his vision. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and focus on nothing but getting out.

"Base this is Red Dog One!" Duke shouted into his radio.

"Red Dog One this is Base what is your position?" A voice said on the other end.

"Send that helicopter in closer, we have several casualties." Duke said.

"Copy that Red Dog One, sending helicopter in one-half mile from pick up zone."

"Over and out base!' Duke said, "We're going to get you out of here Snake!"

Snake Eyes nodded, holding a thumbs up. Duke hit the exit door with his shoulder, and it came off it's hinges, "Move, move, move!"

The crew filed out of the compound and ran into the forest. Men had followed them and were firing bullets blindly. Snake could hear them whistling past him as he ran, clutching his chest and gasping for breath. He felt someone take his arm and put it around them, dragging him forward faster than he had been running. He looked down to see Scarlett, a determined look on her face. She looked up at him and said, "I told you I have your back."

Duke paused in a clearing, lighting up a flare that went soaring into the sky. It illuminated the oncoming enemy soldiers, and Ripcord and Jace started firing at them. Their helicopter suddenly appeared and dipped down into the clearing.

"Let's go!" Someone shouted hopping out of the chopper.

"Come on!" Duke shouted, waving his arm.

Joker and Ace hopped up, taking Marta from Roadblock, who helped Jace up. He gently took Snake by his shoulders and lifted him up to Jace, who tried to handle him as delicately as possible. Snake Eyes grimaced under his mask, the pain almost unbearable.

Scarlett and Ripcord jumped up and lifted Duke into the chopper. Bullets hit the machine and ricocheted around the inside.

"Shit!" Ripcord said, as one landed in the floor next to him.

Snake Eyes watched as they lifted off the ground and into the sky, disappearing from the base. He breathed a sigh of relief that they had succeeded.

"Let me see him." One of the chopper guys said. He felt hands on his chest, and his armor being lifted off of him until he was only left in his black sweatpants.

"Not his helmet." He heard a voice say, but he couldn't tell who it was. Everything around him was fading.

"Stay with me big guy!" The chopper guy shouted.

"Snake!" A woman's voice shouted, "Stay with us Snake!"

The chopper guy was bent over his face, "Snake Eyes!"

He vaguely thought of Anna. He thought about her face when she laughed, or when she told him a story and got lost in a memory. He thought about her determination to become what he wanted her to be. He knew she would, she just needed him to show her how. He hoped he lived long enough to see her again, to see her smile, to hear her laugh, to feel her in his arms as they hugged.

He fought against the blackness, knew he had to stay awake. It beckoned him, called his name, promised comfort. Everything around him faded, and he finally surrendered to the darkness.

_**Woofta guys! This was a very long chapter I know, but I didn't have the heart to break it up. I was totally on a role, because I LOVE military stuff, so this was kind of fun to write! Please don't hate!**_

_**So as I said in my description, Joe missions are becoming more dangerous, so...there's one of the dangerous missions for you!**_

_**Hope you like it and didn't get bored with the length! :/ Tell me what you think! **_


	10. Chapter 10

Anna sat with her head leaning back against the wall. She couldn't wait for Snake to get back from his mission so they could talk. She had missed his usual visits to her room.

"General Hawk!" She cried, jumping up as the general walked by.

He turned, his face pinched with stress, "Yes Anna?"

"When is the mission going to return? I'm waiting for Snake Eyes." She said.

"Ah, they should be here any moment, but Anna-" General Hawk said before Anna interrupted him, "There's the helicopter!"

"Anna!" General Hawk said, but she was gone, dragging a half asleep Storm Shadow with her. She knew later on she should have stayed and listened to him.

She waited impatiently at the glass doors as the helicopter landed.

"Excuse me ma'am!" someone shouted behind her.

She turned in time to doge three people running through the hall with a stretcher. She watched them run out to the helicopter where the men were jumping down from it. She wondered who had gotten hurt.

Duke jumped down and looked at Anna, his blue eyes telling her something bad happened. She looked back at the helicopter where they were lowering someone on the stretcher. She couldn't tell who it was, all they had was black pants on, their shirt had been removed probably to stop the wounds from bleeding.

All she knew was she hadn't seen Snake yet.

Then it hit her. The person on the stretcher was Snake.

"Snake Eyes." She whispered, opening the door.

A hand grabbed her arm, stopping her from going outside, "Anna, I don't think you should go out there."

"Let go Storm Shadow." She said, yanking her arm to try and get it out of his grip.

"You don't want to see him like this." Storm Shadow said.

"Storm Shadow, if you don't let go of me, so help me-"

He let go of her and she bounded out the door, "Snake?" She shouted. Duke ran towards her, grabbing her around the waist while she ran by him. "No! Let go of me, Duke!"

"Anna." Duke said, and she could feel panicked tears roll down her face. She couldn't take her eyes off the stretcher that was being pushed towards the building by Roadblock and Scarlett. The recruits that had gone with were still getting down from the helicopter, dazed by the events.

Duke turned her away from Snake's body, holding her head against his chest with one hand, the other pulling her into him. Anna allowed him to do so, and involuntarily started to cry. Duke didn't say anything, there was nothing to say to make her feel better. They stood in the same spot, both silent, until Anna finally was able to get herself under control.

"What happened?" She asked, wiping her face.

"I'm not sure on the details, Scarlett was the one who saw it all." Duke said, "She was pretty shaken up. All I know is Snake Eyes was shot three times in the chest."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"The medic on the helicopter did everything he could to stop the bleeding, but Anna," Duke ran a hand through his hair, "he lost a lot of blood."

"Snake Eyes won't go down without a fight."

Duke and Anna turned to find Storm Shadow standing a few feet from them. His face was grave, but something about him said he didn't think Snake would die today.

Duke nodded, "He's been fighting. Well, I need to report to Hawk, you can go to the infirmary but you won't see him for a while."

Anna sniffed and wiped her nose again, "I think I'll do that. Will you come with me Storm Shadow?"

The white ninja nodded and started walking toward the building.

Duke watched him go and said, "I'll be there after I talk to Hawk."

Anna nodded and followed Storm Shadow inside. They walked in silence down the series of halls that lead to the infirmary. There was a woman at a small desk who smiled when they approached her, "Can I help you?"

"Is Snake Eyes going into surgery?" Anna asked.

"Oh, well, I'm not really obligated to release patient information." the woman said.

"I'm his assistant!" Anna said, "I know him!"

"I'm sorry ma'am I-"

"It's okay, they can come in." Anna turned to find a red nosed Scarlett standing in the emergency room doorway.

"Alright, go ahead then." The woman said.

"Thank you." Anna said, walking by her to the door where Scarlett stood waiting.

"He just went into surgery, I don't know when he'll be out." Scarlett said.

"What happened?" Anna asked as soon as they sat down in the waiting room.

"A shooter came out of an alleyway and hit Snake before he saw him. The guy aimed his gun at me and before I could do anything Snake jumped between us." Scarlett said, her eyes watering.

"It's not your fault." Anna said, putting a hand on her tightly clasped ones, "There's nothing you could have done."

Scarlett smiled sadly, "I tried telling myself that, but it doesn't make it any easier."

The three of them sat in the waiting room for hours making small talk, anything to try and get their minds off of Snake. Duke and Ripcord joined them a while later, and Ripcord's natural humor managed to change the mood from dreary to light.

"So, Jinx," Ripcord started, making Anna roll her eyes, "you've been hanging out with Thunder a lot over here."

Storm Shadow glared at him.

"Yeah?" Anna said.

"Did you know he tried to kill every single one of us?"

"Ripcord, not now." Scarlett said.

"I just want to protect a fellow Joe." Ripcord said, shrugging his shoulders.

"There's no need." Storm Shadow said quietly.

Duke nudged Ripcord just as he was about to say something. Ripcord looked at the Captain who shook his head. They fell into silence, all eyes falling upon the door to the emergency room.

After hours of waiting, a doctor passed through the door. The five of them rose to their feet, watching the doctor make his way over to them.

"I'm assuming you're here for Snake Eyes?" he asked.

"Yes." Anna said.

The doctor nodded, "His surgery was successful." there was a sigh of relief that passed through the room as they all let their breaths out, "He will be under for the next hour or so. We expect him to wake within the day, but there is no guarantee."

"He'll be able to do everything normal right?" Anna asked.

"It'll be a while, but eventually Snake Eyes will be able to return to his normal daily routine." The doctor said, "If you ask me, he's very lucky."

"Can we see him?" Scarlett asked.

"He's still asleep, but I think I can allow one at a time." The doctor said.

Scarlett nudged Anna, "Go see him."

"Are you sure?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Scarlett smiled, "but when you're done make sure you come get me!"

Anna smiled and followed the doctor. "We've transported Snake Eyes to his temporary room while he recovers."

"How bad was he?" Anna asked.

"Pretty bad, he'd lost a lot of blood and was in very rough shape when they brought him in." The doctor shook his head, "He's definitely a G.I. Joe for being able to live through that and not have any problems afterward." The doctor stopped at a door labeled 0254, "This is it."

"Thank you." Anna said, and pushed the door open.

The room was like a normal hospital room, light blue was painted on the walls with blue flower paintings hanging on them. Snake laid in a bed centered along the back wall, his helmet was still placed on his head, but she could see that it had been removed for surgery. He wore only the regular hospital gown, none of his black armor or sweatpants.

She drug a chair across the room to the side of his bed. She plopped down in it and flipped the TV on. She turned to Snake and sighed, "You look like crap."

She wanted his hands to rise up and sign something to her, wanted him to turn his head to look at her even though she couldn't see his face. Anna sighed again resting her head in her arms on his bed.

Hours later Snake finally stirred. The first thing he noticed was the pain in his chest and head. He opened his eyes and analyzed his surroundings. It was just a normal room, and he realized he was in a hospital. He sighed from the pain and found the button to call the nurse.

He looked to the right and was surprised to see someone there. It was Anna, her head laid on his bed, one of her hands clasped tightly in his. He couldn't help but smile as she stirred, her breath catching, and then settled back to sleep. Snake laid his head back and moved his finger off the call button. If he pushed it the nurse would come, and that would wake Anna. He liked watching her sleep, watching her at peace. He decided the pain was worth it.

_**Alright! Another chapter down! :D**_

_**Life's been so busy lately! I just had my grad party and found out who my roommate for college is! :D yaaay! And if you're looking for another fabulous story to read, head on over to the Star Trek 2009 category and check out my story Five Years! It hasn't gotten any reviews yet so that's a major blow to my writing self esteem, so read and review my friends! :)**_

_**So here it is! Chapter 10!**_


	11. Chapter 11

With all the hype about Snake Eyes, everyone kind of forgot about Marta, everyone but Duke. He swept down the long hallways, nodding to and saluting everyone who passed him. He had gone to check on Snake that morning, to find Anna sitting at the foot of his bed telling him a story about the time she went to a Jason Aldean concert. He had laughed when she got overly enthusiastic about how much of a 'hottie' he was, and he was pretty sure he even saw Snake's shoulders shake.

After that he had decided to sit down and talk with Marta. He entered the room Marta was housed in and found her sitting in a reclining bed, her wrists and legs secured to the bed with restraints. She stared at the floor but looked up as he entered and smiled sadly, "Captain."

"Marta, what's going on?" Duke asked, giving her a small smile, "How are they treating you here?"

"They're very good despite the fact that I tried to kill someone."

"Cobra tried to kill someone, not you." Duke said, putting a hand over hers. She looked at his hand and gave a soft chuckle, "She's not the only one you know."

Duke frowned, "Excuse me?"

Marta looked up at him, her exhausted, saddened face replaced with a menacing one, "Marta was just the beginning."

Duke recoiled his hand, taking a step back, surprised at the sudden deep voice that left Marta's mouth, "What are you?"

"A prototype." The voice said, "And just the beginning."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you think those men couldn't have killed you?" The voice sneered, "You were outnumbered, outgunned, if they didn't have orders not to kill you they would have done so. Easily."

Duke frowned looking closer at Marta's newly darkened eyes, "Cobra Commander?"

"I would say in the flesh, but, well, technically I'm not here."

"What did you do to her?" Duke snarled, putting a hand on both armwrests so that he and Cobra Commander were face to face, "Tell me you son of a bitch."

"It's quite simple." Came the reply, "I injected her with a serum I like to call nano-commanders. I am able to control her very being right in the comfort of my own home."

"Do you think this is a game?" Duke asked, "This back and forth battle between Cobra and the Joes? Is it all just a game to you?"

Cobra Commander laughed, a dark sadistic sound, "And why would you think that?"

"Because," Duke said, lowering himself so he could look into his eyes, "no matter how many times you loose, no matter how many men you get killed, you still keep going."

"Wasn't that something we were taught, Duke?" Cobra Commander asked, "When we were in the military? When everyone loved you and praised you, and I was nothing but a nuisance in your shadow."

"Rex," Duke said, making Cobra Commander's eyes snap up to his face, "you were never a nuisance, I don't understand where you're getting that from."

"Oh please," he spat, "even my own sister didn't pay attention to me until she thought I was dead."

"She loved you!" Duke shouted, and then ran a hand through his hair, speaking in a softer voice, "I loved you. You were my brother."

For a moment, Duke could see Rex. He could see his bright eyes ready for adventure looking up at him, his look almost one that said he was sorry. And then the Rex he knew was gone, replaced by the dark, menacing Cobra Commander, "It doesn't really matter now, does it Duke?"

"I guess not." Duke said lowly.

Cobra Commander started laughing, the dark sound reverberating around the room in a chorus of evil symphony. Duke watched in somewhat of a horrified state, he'd always hated the movies where people were possessed and talked in different voices. That is what he was seeing now, and he wasn't particularly fond of it.

"What's so funny?" Duke asked.

Cobra Commander smiled, making Marta's face twist in a sadistic way, "I'll see you quite soon, Duke."

And then he was gone, and Marta was staring up at him terrified, "No." she whispered.

"What?" Duke asked, falling to his knees in front of her, "What is it, Marta?"

Tears fell from her eyes, and he took her shaking hands. She slowly looked up at him, "They're coming."

Duke barely registered her words as the room was bathed in a red glow, sirens going off. "Shit." he whispered, and took off to find the rest of the Joes.

He knew only one thing, Cobra was attacking, and they had brought the nano-commanders with them.

I finally did it! I've set in motion the main events of this story! Woop woop! Sorry for the delay! I wanted to get a chapter of my Band of Brothers story out in time for the Fourth of July, since it is a holiday for soldiers and independance and all!

This is a little late too, but I just want to share my condolences with the Gandalfini family. James Gandalfini was one of my all time favorite actors! I loved the Sopranos! (And I own every season!) He will be greatly missed.

_**On that note, here is a new chapter of my story, I hope you like it! **_


	12. Chapter 12

"And that is why you don't put oranges in the toilet." Anna finished.

Snake slapped his forehead and she laughed opening her mouth to say something, when the lights went red and sirens started going off. Snake sat stick straight, and stiffly swung his legs out of bed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?" Anna asked, pushing him back in bed, "There may be an attack going down, but you're not leaving this room, mister! And neither am I." She knew it was Cobra, there was no doubt, and she knew they'd be looking for the black ninja.

She stood in front of his bed and got in a defensive position, "I may not have my katanas, or any weapons for that matter, but I'll die before I let them hurt you, Snake."

"Then we have something in common." Snake signed.

"You will not leave that bed, or so help me if I die, I will come back and haunt the hell out of you." Anna said, crossing her arms.

There were footsteps running through the halls, and each time they passed the door, she got ready for all hell to break loose. Suddenly it burst open, and she got in a defensive position, ready to give hell.

Storm Shadow strode through the door, his demeanor cocky as always, and threw her her katanas, "Thought you could use those."

"Thanks." Anna said, "What's going on out there?"

"Cobra's made an attack, though it's not clear what their motive is." Storm Shadow said.

"But you know."

"Excuse me?"

"You know what's going on don't you?"

"There's a possibility."

"Why didn't you say anything?"  
"No one ever asked."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Well get ready for a fight."

"Oh yes they were already starting to figure out he was here when I grabbed the katanas." Storm Shadow said.

"And they didn't see you?" Anna asked.

Storm Shadow snorted, "I'm a warrior of the Arashikage clan, they'll never see me unless I want them to."

"Right."

There was the sound of footsteps outside the door and Storm Shadow pulled the white mask down over his face, "Stay behind me."

"What? I-"

"You have no armor on to protect yourself, and you're still in training. I'll hold them off, but if someone gets past me," he shot her a cocky glance, "which they won't, I'll trust you to finish them."

"Sounds like a plan." Anna said drawing her katanas up.

In the space of a heartbeat, the door to Snake's room burst open and at least a dozen men filed inside. Storm Shadow gave a low chuckle and stepped forward to meet the first man. He disarmed him easily, shoving the limp body to the side. Anna watched in fascinated horror as Storm Shadow whirled and kicked, lashing out with his katanas. Before long a dash of crimson spattered the walls, a small pool forming on the floor where the bodies lay.

Storm Shadow grunted once when one of the men landed a blow on him, but came back with a defending punch that sent his attacker crashing through the wall.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man at Snake's bed. She whirled and leapt through the air, her right foot landing on his bed. She kicked herself up to leap over the man, her hands landing on his shoulders. As the rest of her body swung to the ground, she maneuvered herself so that her feet landed behind his knees, making his knees buckle. Her back hit the floor, the weight of the other man crashing down on her. She threw him to the side and jumped up while she still had the advantage. She drew her katana and pointed it at him. She hesitated for a moment, and that was her downfall. He knocked the katana out of her grip and tackled her, both of them hitting Snake's bed.

Storm Shadow looked behind him to see Anna battling with a Cobra warrior. He cursed himself for letting someone slip by him. Suddenly Snake Eyes swung himself out of his bed and grabbed the man in a chokehold as he had Anna pressed against the wall, choking her with his forearm.

Anna grasped for breath and bent over to clutch her throat. Snake Eyes held onto the flailing attacker with all his strength and threw him into the bed, taking a flying leap through the air to land a blow to the man's head snapping it to the side. He slumped to the floor and didn't move.

By the door Storm Shadow finished off his last attacker and turned to where Snake was slumped against the wall and Anna was bent over him.

Storm Shadow tore the mask from his face and dropped to his knees in front of his sword brother. "Are you hurt?"

Snake Eyes turned his head to look at him. He was visibly worn out and in pain, but he nodded.

Anna was shaking her head, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." Storm Shadow said, "These are trained professionals, and who knows what Cobra Commander drugged them with."

"Snake could have died." She said.

"Yes he could have." Storm Shadow said, "But he didn't, it's better not to dwell on things sweetheart."

"You did excellent." Snake Eyes signed shakily.

it was then that Anna saw the crimson stained on Storm Shadow's chest. "Are you okay?" She asked him. He gave her a curt nod.

There were more footsteps outside and Storm Shadow jumped up ready to attack.

Duke rounded the corner followed by Ripcord and Lady J. They all looked roughed up, but Duke looked the worst with a deep gash running over his right eye. "Is everyone ok here?" Duke asked.

Storm Shadow nodded, "Snake Eyes got a little roughed up but I think he's ok."

Snake Eyes flashed a thumbs up.

"Were there any casualties?" Anna asked slowly.

"They got Hawk." Duke said quietly.

Anna sat with her mouth agap, and Snake Eyes bowed his head.

"They were trying to inject him with something, but he fought back. They shot him." Duke explained simply.

"We're going after them." Lady J said.

"No." Duke said, "I already told you we're not going after them, we don't need to lose anyone else."

"It's not your decision, Duke." Lady J said.

"Actually," Ripcord spoke up from the doorway, "with General Hawk dead that leaves the Captain in charge."

"And as long as I am in charge, no one will get hurt in a usless mission to get back at Cobra." Duke said.

"It should be a Joe decision." Lady J said, crossing her arms, "Let the base decide by popular vote."

Anna knew what the final vote would be, what everyone would want. Of course they would avenge the death of their leader, of course they would choose to go after Cobra. And of course there would be unnecessary deaths, but the Joes wouldn't see that now. Not with the death of Hawk.

Duke ran a hand down his chin, and Anna knew he thought Hawk would have done it, to be fair. He sighed, "Fine."

Lady J smiled and crossed her arms, "Now."

"Don't you think everyone's had enough for today?" Anna asked.

Lady J turned her cool gaze upon her, "We want justice."

"And you think this is the way to get it?"

"Yes, I do." Lady J said, and whirled around to swiftly brush past Ripcord and out the door.

"What crawled up her butt and died?" Ripcord said.

"She's just on edge." Duke said.

Storm Shadow gave a low laugh, "Aren't we all."

_**Okay guys, sorry for that little wait there, life's just been busy! I hope this chapter isn't really confusing, I tried my hardest to make it understandable! So tell me what you guys think! :)**_


	13. Chapter 13

There was a low buzz in the briefing room as the whole G.I. Joe body was assembled for an address from Duke. Anna sat next to Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, next to them was Roadblock, Scarlett, and Glitch, all of whom didn't look very happy about the situation Lady J had gotten them into.

Someone cleared their throat as Duke stepped foot at the front of the room. The room quieted and every eye was on Duke, who stood there for a moment with his hands behind his back.

"I think you all know why I've called you here." Duke started off, "And for those of you who don't, General Hawk is dead." there was a low murmur from the Joes, "And it has been brought to my attention that some of you would like to stage an attack on Cobra's base." Another murmur rose from the group, and Anna shook her head. "I personally would have refused the idea, but as commanding officer of the G.I. Joes, I have to put everyone's best interest first. So I've decided to let you vote."

"Worst idea ever." Roadblock muttered.

Ripcord, who stood next to Duke shook his head and turned around.

"All those in favor?" Lady J asked after she rose to her feet, putting her hand in the air.

There was a moment's hesitation, and almost every hand in the room shot up. Anna looked around and saw there were only a handful of people besides her and her group who didn't have their hands raised.

Lady J turned to Duke, crossing her arms, "I guess you have your answer."

"We will stage our mission soon, which I will personally be leading." Duke said, "Any volunteers to join me?"

Lady J's hand was the first to go up. Anna looked around the room where not a single hand was risen. Just a moment ago they had voted to attack Cobra, but no one was willing to risk doing it. Anna sighed and stood, "I'm in."

Storm Shadow stood beside her, along with Snake Eyes, both ninja's nodding. Roadblock and Scarlett also stood, "Can't leave you alone on this stupid of a mission." Roadblock said to Duke. Behind him, Ripcord clapped a hand on Duke's shoulder, "You know I've got your back."

"Is that it?" Duke asked, "Out of everyone who voted to have an attack mission, the only ones going are those who didn't?"

The room remained silent, all heads turned towards the floor. Anna and her group still stood, their heads held high, and Duke said, "Okay, I guess that's it then. To those of you brave enough to accompany my on this mission, report back in this room tomorrow at 0600 hours. Dismissed."

Anna went straight to her room to gather her armor and katana, and catch a quick nap. She was exhausted from the days events, along with everyone else. Soldiers around the base were cleaning up debris and enemy bodies, their faces grim.

She reached her room and started gathering her armor. She passed by a mirror and saw a small blotch of purple on her throat. She pulled the collar of her throat down and saw the bruises around her throat from the attacker she had failed to kill. She gently touched it and instantly wished she hadn't. Pain flared around her throat and she winced, backing up. She ran into something behind her and whirled, half expecting another Cobra operative.

Instead Snake Eyes stood behind her, and grabbed her shoulders to steady her. He slowly reached out a hand and pulled her collar down, examining the bruises on her throat. She watched him do so and saw the hand that wasn't at her throat clench.

"Snake?"

He backed away and turned from her to face the wall. His fists clenched and unclenched, and it looked like he was about to put a pretty massive hole in the wall.

She grabbed his arm and faced him, "Snake are you okay?"

"You're hurt." he signed.

"You give me bruises all the time in practice, this is nothing different." She said.

"This is completely different, and you know it." he signed.

"Okay, so maybe you're not trying to kill me in practice, but hey, I'm not dead am I?" She asked, flashing him a bright smile.

"You could have been."

"But I'm not thanks to you!" She said, lightly patting his arm, "You saved me."

"If I wasn't there, you'd be dead." Snake signed.

"But you were." She said, "And I can't thank you enough. I owe you my life."

"You owe me nothing." he said, "It's my duty to protect you."

She frowned, "Your duty?"

Snake Eyes paused for a moment before signing, "You're the only one who understands."

"Understands what?"

"Me."

"Well, like I said before, my cousin was deaf so I had to learn sign language-"

"That's not what I'm talking about." He signed, "After my master died, I was alone, no one cared about me. I went through my life _knowing_ I was alone never expecting to meet someone like you."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You're the first person to make me feel happiness again." he signed, "Even if that sounds cheesy, it's the truth."

She stood there not really knowing what to say. The odd feeling in her stomach she had felt all those times before, flared up stronger than ever. "Well," She stuttered, "I'm happy I made you happy again."

Before she knew what was going on, Snake had pulled her into him. Her arms instantly wrapped around him, and her head lay on his chest. She could hear his breathing through his mask, and his heart beat a little more faster than normal.

Anna picked her head up to look up at him. She slowly reached up and touched his mask where she thought his lips would be. She didn't know what had come over her, but the feeling she had when he held her was overwhelming.

He reached up and clasped her hand in his, slowly tracing her knuckles with his thumb. He let go for a moment and signed, "You can't come on this mission."

"I have to." she said, "I can't stay behind and worry about you again."

"And I can't worry about you." He said, "If anything happened to you..."

"Snake, I'm coming with, I'm your assistant remember?" she asked, "I've got your back."

Storm Shadow came striding through the door and stopped mid-stride when he saw them. His face froze in shock, and he twisted himself around to walk right back out the door. Anna looked up at Snake Eyes and burst out laughing, "I think we surprised him."

Snake let her go, and Anna found herself slightly cursing Storm Shadow.

Out in the hall Anna found Storm Shadow pacing the width of the hall. She arched an eyebrow, "What's got your undies in a bunch?"

He stopped for just a moment to give her a weird face and continued pacing, "I came to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine, thanks to you and Snake eyes." Anna said.

"Mostly Snake Eyes it would seem." Storm Shadow said.

It occurred to her, he sounded jealous. She put a hand on her hip, "And why are you so concerned about that?"

"I'm not." Storm Shadow said, "And I'm fine, thank you very much."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm going to take a nap, so I'll see you in the debriefing room tomorrow."

"Yes, you will." He said, "Have a nice nap."

"I will thank you." She said, and turned to walk back into the room and close her door.

Snake sat on the edge of her bed, the same he had every other time he visited her, "Tell me a story." he signed.

"No, Snake, I think it's time _you _tell _me _a story." She said, sitting next to him, "You can start with this." She pulled the piece of red cloth out from under her pillow.

Snake Eyes took it, holding it delicately in his hands, "It is very special to me."

"Why?" She asked, "Snake please, just tell me something about you."

"It was my mother's." he signed abruptly, "She would take it everywhere with her, because it belonged to a soldier she had known in World War Two. The two fell in love while he was in the hospital she worked in."

"Is that who your father is?" Anna asked.

"No." Snake signed, "The soldier died of his wounds just before the war ended. It had been the single most devastating thing my mother had been through in her life. This was part of his scarf he had given her, the other used to help his wounds stop bleeding. He gave it to her so that she would never forget his love for her. Years after the war, she met my father. I was their only child, and our family was inseparable."

"But your mother never forgot her first love." Anna said.

"Precisely." Snake Eyes signed, "She kept this with her wherever she went, even when she slept. My father never knew about the soldier, the only one she told was me. We had a bond, I loved my mother more than anyone, I trusted her with every ounce of my being." he stopped for a moment.

"What happened?" Anna asked softly.

"One night some men came into our home, and my father went to confront them. I watched as they shot him, and my mother hid me in a closet. She told me not to make a sound, and not to come out until the men were gone. I stayed in the closet, and she got into her bed, pretending to sleep. The men came into her room and she started screaming for them to get out. I watched them shoot her multiple times. I didn't make a sound, and I waited until they were gone to come out like she said. I crawled over to her, where she was trying to breathe. She gave me the cloth, and told me to keep it with me always to remember how much she loved me."

"I'm sorry Snake Eyes," she said, "I really am."

"That is when Storm Shadow and my master found me. I was stealing food from the temple kitchen and Storm Shadow protected the temple valiantly. Our master took me in and trained me, after he died I took a vow of silence in his honor. When I was older, the Joes found me, and I've been here ever since." He finished, "There is your story."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, "Thank you."

"I'm a bit tired, I think I'm going to have to retire to my room." Snake Eyes said.

Anna pushed him back on her bed and said, "Nope, you're going to have to stay here tonight."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"There might still be Cobra operatives hiding around this place, what happens if one comes here?" Anna asked innocently.

"He'll meet my sword." Snake Eyes said, pulling Anna down next to him.

_**Well there it is, Anna and Snake Eyes! :) I hope you guys like it! And if you haven't notice I've written yet another story, but it's about our other loveable ninja Storm Shadow! It's called Calm Before the Storm! So go check it out! **_


	14. Chapter 14

Snake Eyes woke the next morning to find Anna still asleep next to him. She held onto his left arm with her face pressed against his shoulder, her face held an expression of peace.

It brought him joy to know she felt the same way about him that he felt for her. But she would never begin to imagine what she meant to him, or what it would do to him if he lost her. That made the impending mission even more troubling to him, but he had trained her well, and she was ready for his gift he had readied for her.

Anna stirred and looked sleepily up at him, smiling, "Hey sleepy head."

"I think you're the sleepy head." He signed.

She groaned and buried her face back into his shoulder, "I don't want to get up."

He turned on his side to face her, "Your big mission is today."

"Oh yeah." she said, looking up at him, "Right." She reached out a hand and placed it on his cheek, tracing the place his jawbone would be, "I wish you'd take off that mask."

He reached up and placed his hands over hers, not saying anything. She smiled, "I know, I know, it's against your vow."

He placed his forehead against hers for a moment before signing, "Are you sure there's nothing I can say to stop you for coming on this mission?"

"If Storm Shadow gets to go, I get to go." She said, "Besides, last time I let you go off on a mission you came back shot up like a target."

He shook his head, flipping to lie on his back, throwing open his arms, covering her face with one. She shoved it off of her, scooting closer to him, and put an arm over his stomach, lying her head in the crook of his shoulder, "I'm not going to sit here and worry about you again."

"I'm flattered." he signed.

She punched his shoulder before handing him his mother's cloth, "Here."

"Keep it." he said.

"But it's your mother's." she said.

"My mother was given it as a token of love, and so was I." he said, "And now I am giving it to you, to show you just how much you mean to me."

She smiled, tucking the piece of cloth under her pillow, "Maybe it'll give me a little luck today."

"I have something else that will give you a little luck too." He signed, "Come." he drew her out of bed and out in the hall. In the lounge, Ripcord and Duke sat laughing again, and Anna briefly wondered what odd story there were reliving this time.

Snake Eyes took her to his room. It was the first time she'd been there, it was mostly bare except for a few pictures on a dresser. One was of a smiling little boy and an older woman. Anna picked it up, "Is this your mom?"

Snake Eyes paused at a tall wardrobe and turned. He held up his hands to say something and paused. Finally he said, "Yes."

"She's beautiful."

"She was." Snake Eyes said, "From what I remember of her."

Anna sat the picture down and said, "Do you even live in here?"

"Occasionally." he signed, and opened the wardrobe. Inside were various weapons that ranged from ninja stars and small knives, to nunchucks and katanas. She saw his usual pair, their handles worn from obvious use.

He drew a pair from one of the side doors. They were obviously new, their blades glinting in the light, their handles covered with a soft black leather. Just above the hilt was the Arashikage symbol.

"Wow, those are nice." Anna said, inspecting them around Snake Eye's hands.

He handed them to her, "They're yours."

"What?" She asked, "Mine?"

"All yours."

"But I'm not Arashikage." She said.

"I am, and I've trained you in the Arashikage way. I'm no Hard Master, but I still know what I'm doing." Snake Eyes signed.

Anna swung them around a bit, loving the lightness of them, "Thank you, Snake, you don't know how awesome this is."

"It's a way I can protect you." Snake Eyes said.

Anna stood on her tip toes, pressing her lips against his mask, "Thank you." she whispered, "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get dressed. We need to meet Duke in a matter of twenty minutes, and that armor isn't the easiest thing to put on. I'll see you in a bit."

"Don't hurt anyone with those." Snake Eyes said jokingly.

Anna struck a kung fu pose, "I would never." and then she entered the hall, making her way back to her room. She passed the lounge and Ripcord called out to her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"What are those?" He asked.

"My very own authentic pair of katanas." she said, "Snake gave them to me."

Ripcord stood up, examining them with a look of awe, "Bad. Ass."

"Why thank you." she said, and left him to go to her room. She got the armor out of her closet and started dressing in her bathroom. When she got everything on, she admired herself in the mirror again, this time with both katanas visible at her back.

When she came out into her room, she found Storm Shadow lying in her bed, flipping through channels on TV. She rolled her eyes, "You just don't care do you?"

"I do what I want." he said nonchalantly, "I told you you had an infatuation with him."

"Maybe I do." she said, "What business is it of yours?"

"It isn't."

"Exactly, now it's five-to, we should get to the briefing room." They both left and silently walked to the briefing room

Everyone was there, and Duke started his plan.

"Okay everyone, we all know about these nano-commanders. Now I've talked to Storm Shadow about them, and he says there's a serum. Our mission is to destroy that serum eventually destroying the mass take over of innocent people." Duke said, "There is a laboratory where they make this serum, and a room where they store it. Ripcord, Glitch, Roadblock, Lady J, and myself will take the lab, which is somewhere around here." he pointed at a small diagram Storm Shadow must have drawn for him, "Snake Eyes, Anna, Storm Shadow, and Scarlett will take the storage room. Any questions?"

"When are we leaving?" Anna asked.

"Now, Storm Shadow was aware of Cobra Commander leaving the base to meet with another of his allies somewhere around the world, we're not sure where. It's good you all came prepared." Duke looked them all in the eye, "Let's give 'em hell."

"Hooah!" They shouted, following him into the hall and outside to where a jet waited for them.

They all entered and sat, drawing their weapons to do a weapons check. All Anna had where her katanas, along with Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, although Snake kept a few guns with him.

Storm Shadow nudged her arm, "Here." he handed her a few ninja stars, "Just throw them, eventually you'll hit your target."

"Thanks Storm Shadow." she said smiling.

Duke sat next to her and said, "How are you feeling."

"Is it bad to say I'm scared?"

"You'd be a fool not to be." Duke said.

"Yeah," Scarlett said, "everyone's felt like that."

"Thanks guys." she said, looking across from her at Snake Eyes, who nodded reassuringly. She wanted nothing more than to hug him, to feel his arms around her, to feel safe.

They flew for a while in silence, no one saying a word, not even Lady J. Finally Duke stood and said, "Approaching target."

They all stood as one, hooking themselves up to the lines that would lower them safely to the ground. "Good luck guys, and if I don't see you after this mission, it has been an honor serving with all of you."

"Don't talk like that Duke." Scarlett said.

The pilot spun his finger and Duke said, "Here we go!"

The floor dropped away, and Anna dropped to the ground. She luckily landed on her feet and unsnapped the line from her back. She made eye contact with Duke, "Good luck rookie." he said, cracking a smile and hitting her on the back.

"Thanks hotshot." she said winking. Duke laughed and lead his team down the stairs to the lab, disappearing from her sight.

She followed Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow down a flight of stairs that lead from the roof. Storm Shadow was in the lead, and Snake took up the tail end, with Anna and Scarlett in the middle. They moved stealthily through the building, their footsteps silent.

"Where is everyone?" Anna whispered.

Storm Shadow nodded down the hall, "They're down there."

They moved around the corner and found a group of three men standing around talking. They saw them and for a moment ignored them before doing a double take. One man opened his mouth to shout something, but Storm Shadow silenced him with a ninja star. The others started shouting that there were Joes in the building, but they too met their fates by a ninja star. Storm Shadow kept going, killing anyone that crossed their paths.

Finally they reached the storage room, and Scarlett cut out the lock they had fashioned to the door. Storm Shadow stopped them before they entered the room, "By now the entire base has been signalled, along with operatives in the area, including Cobra Commander. We have five minutes before everyone in the base is heading here."

Scarlett produced a round metal device from her bag she carried on her back, "Good thing we've got this. Let's get it done before we draw attention to ourselves." Just as she was going to press a button, men rushed into every hall, surrounding them.

"Already have." Anna said, drawing her katanas as men came running down the hall to her right. Storm Shadow did the same when men approached to their left, and Snake Eyes drew his when they came behind them.

Scarlett drew two pistols from her hips and looked around, "There's a lot of ninjas in this place."

The first man that swung at Anna was cut in the stomach, falling to the floor. She threw two ninja stars at them, sinking them into two of their chests. Behind her Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes were expertly cutting down men, Scarlett standing in the middle of their protective circle, helplessly watching on. Finally she shot a man in the chest and glided by Snake Eyes, "Let's go!"

Anna swung her katana and hit a man in the throat, his blood spraying her in the face. She flinched and wiped her face with her sleeve, and was pulled by the arm in front of Snake Eyes, who pointed ahead of him. Scarlett grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, Storm Shadow fending off oncoming attackers, and Snake Eyes defending their group from behind.

"This way!" Storm Shadow said, opening a door that lead into a room. He fought the men in front of them while the rest of the group filed into the room, Snake Eyes, who had paused briefly by the door, stumbled inside just as Storm Shadow slammed the door shut, locking it.

"Through here." Storm Shadow said, leading them across the room to the door at the other side.

"Come on Snake." Anna said, turning to follow the others.

She was struck from behind, falling forward stiffly. She managed to catch herself on her elbows, looking behind her in shock.

"I don't think anyone will be going anywhere." A voice hissed from behind Snake's mask.

They looked at him in confusion before he laughed darkly, a laugh Storm Shadow knew from anywhere, "Cobra Commander."

Anna looked at him, "What?"

"That's not Snake Eyes." Storm Shadow said, "Not anymore."

Snake reached behind him, producing a needle with the remains of purple liquid inside. Anna's stomach froze, and her heart sank, "No." she whispered.

"If I can't have Storm Shadow, I'll have the better man." Cobra Commander hissed.

"No!" Anna shouted, lunging at Snake's form, but Scarlett caught her in time. Cobra Commander had stuck a hand out to grab her, but ended up getting caught by Storm Shadow. He picked him up and sent him crashing into the one way mirror to their right. Snake didn't move, and Storm Shadow said, "This is our chance."

"I'm not leaving him." Anna said, feeling angry tears sting at her eyes.

"You have to." Storm Shadow said.

"I'm not leaving Snake!" She shouted, "He wouldn't leave me!"

"That's not Snake Eyes." Storm Shadow said, "It's Cobra Commander."

"Anna, we're not leaving him here." Scarlett said, "We're coming back for him when we know how to save him."

Anna looked at Snake's unconscious form in the small room he'd fallen into and said, "Okay."

Scarlett helped her to her feet and lead her to the other door. Anna turned to look back once more at Snake, "I'm coming back for you, love."

And with that, she turned, her heart breaking, and ran.

_**Okay, this is another one of those long chapters, but I didn't want to break it up! So I hope you read the whole thing! And sorry about that little cliffhanger there, but I love those. :) Tell me what you guys think!**_


	15. Chapter 15

Anna followed behind Storm Shadow with Scarlett taking up the rear, occaisonally firing off a couple rounds if there were oncoming attackers. She wiped at her eyes, trying angrily not to cry.

Snake Eyes was gone, injected with the very serum they came to destroy. Corrupted and in the hands of Cobra Commander.

Gone.

Storm Shadow came to a skidding halt, drawing his swords as a group of people passed by their corner. A slew of guns pointed their way, and the faces of Duke, Ripcord, Roadblock, Glitch, and Lady J came into the dim light.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, but Duke frowned, "Where's Snake?"

A stabbing pain pierced Anna's heart, and she looked away as new tears threatened their release. Scarlett put a hand on her shoulder while Storm Shadow gave a slight shake of his head, his face grim.

Duke's group looked stricken, their faces showing undeniable grief.

"We need to keep moving." Storm Shadow said.

"Storm Shadow, Storm Shadow, Storm Shadow." A sultry voice said behind them.

Storm Shadow went rigid turning to look where everyone else did. Out of the shadows a short woman with dark hair that faded into blonde slowly walked toward them, swinging a nunchuck.

Storm Shadow smiled thinnly, "Pheonix."

"I didn't picture you a traitor, but I guess everyone changes." Pheonix said.

"I guess so." He agreed.

"Do you think I'm just supposed to let you go?"

"That was what I was going for." Storm Shadow said.

Pheonix marched all five feet of her up to him and put her hands on her hips, "Okay."

"That's it?" Storm Shadow asked.

"That's it." she said, "I'm getting sick of Cobra, they're pretty stupid around here."

"Thanks." Storm Shadow said.

"No problem."

"You didn't see anything here."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Storm Shadow nodded thanks to her and was off, leading the group up to the roof, where Duke had called in an evac.

They could hear more attackers coming, the footsteps pounding and shouts deafening.

Storm Shadow lead them up a flight of stairs, taking them three at a time as bullets flew past them, hittiing the wall inches from them.

Anna followed behind Roadblock, and suddenly they were outside. Duke shot a flare, and seemingly out of nowhere, the plane they had arrived in swooped down, shining it's lights on them.

Roadblock ran up the ramp of the plane, followed closely by Anna and Scarlett. Ripcord supported a limping Glitch, and Lady J ran behind them. Storm Shadow was the last to come running up the ramp, and Roadblock said, "Is that everyone?"

"Where's Duke?" Scarlett asked.

They all looked outside to where Duke was running toward them, having held the door closed so they could board the plane safely.

"Duke!" Scarlett shouted, the door behind him bursting open. Along with a hoard of Cobra operatives that ran out the door, was Snake Eyes. Anna saw him first before anyone else, and when he drew one of the guns he carried with him, she stood.

Duke's body jerked forward, and he stumbled and fell to his knees. At first Anna wasn't sure what had happened, and neither was anyone else. Duke felt his chest, and when he removed his hands, Anna could see blood. His body jerked again, and he looked up at the Joes, just feet away from the plane. His eyes met Anna's, and she knew right then he was saying goodbye. Duke rose a shaking, bloodied hand to his forehead in one last salute to his team, his Joes, before more bullets tore into his body. He fell forward, lifeless. Behind him, Snake Eyes lowered his gun.

"No!" Anna screamed.

Scarlett covered her mouth, stifling her cry. Ripcord cried out in agony, and Roadblock stared in shock. Lady J looked on with an agonized look, holding a crying Glitch.

Anna stumbled forward, and tried to start running, but Storm Shadow caught her, holding her back, "We need to go!" At first no one moved and Storm Shadow shouted louder, "We need to go, now!"

Roadblock was the first to snap out of it, and he pounded on the wall separating the pilots from them. The ramp started closing as a hail of bullets rained down on them.

Anna fought against Storm Shadow, tears rolling down her face, her eyes never leaving Duke's limp body until the ramp was closed. Scarlett was on her knees crying, and Ripcord still stood in the same spot, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Roadblock sat down and put his head in his hands. Lady J still sat with Glitch, her face still shocked.

Storm Shadow held Anna as she cried. She had lost Snake Eyes, lost the person she cared about most, and now she had lost Duke. Her brother. Her friend. Her family. She couldn't handle the pain of their loss. Especially since Snake was the one who had killed Duke. She had heard many stories about Cobra Commander's cruelty, but this was beyond anything she'd expected.

They arrived back at base, silently walking back into the building. There wasn't a dry eye in their group.

Other Joes watched them come back, one daring to ask, "Where's Duke?"

"He didn't make it." Roadblock said shakily, "And Snake Eyes got injected."

Those around him stared in shock, some of them sitting down to deal with the news. Anna walked by them, not caring about any of them. Everything was in slow motion to her, every face that looked at her was a blur.

She entered her room and stripped from her armor, but she didn't pay attention to anything, not even the clothes she put on her body. She just lied down in her bed and wept. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore, and even then dry sobs wracked her body. She wanted desperately to open her eyes and find Snake Eyes next to her, that it was all just a dream she had, and he would still be sleeping next to her. But when she opened them he wasn't there, and the reality of it all sank in, that she would never see Duke again, and the possibility of seeing Snake Eyes again was slim.

She felt something underneath her pillow and pulled out the red cloth Snake had given her. She held it against her heart, more tears coming to her eyes. She should have known the cost of receiving the cloth. She got eternal love, but the one she loved would die.

"We'll get him back, Anna."

She looked up to find Storm Shadow sitting next to her. She wiped her nose and tried to fix her hair, not wanting him to see her crying like a crazy person.

"How?"

"There's an antidote." Storm Shadow said, "I don't know where it is, but I still have friends in Cobra, I'll see if they can find anything out."

"It's going to feel like forever." She said, "I just can't believe he's gone."

"I'm going to do everything I can." Storm Shadow said, "Snake Eyes and I may have our differences, but we're still brothers. The Hard Master told us once that someday we would need to put aside our differences and learn to fight together, to fight _for _each other. We are the last two trained by the Hard Master of the Arashikage clan, and I will die before I let them kill him."

"Storm Shadow," she said, "I think I love him. I know it's wrong since he's my teacher, and I've only known him for a short time, but I've never felt like this before."

Storm Shadow shrugged, "Sometimes that doesn't matter, when you love someone you love someone, and nothing will change that." he sat there for a moment longer before patting her leg, "I promise we will get him back, but for now I'll leave you to rest."

He left, and she was alone with her thoughts. But not long after he was gone, there was a knock at her door. She called for them to come in, and Lady J slowly entered the room.

Anna sat up and watched as Lady J sat next to her, "I'm sorry."

"About what?" Anna asked.

"All of this is my fault." Lady J said, "If it wasn't for me, Duke would still be alive, and Snake would be here with you."

Anna shook her head, "It's no one's fault J, we were outnumbered, there's nothing to blame yourself for."

"I just, I don't know what got into me." Lady J said.

Anna's head snapped to look at her, "What did you just say?"

Lady J looked confused, "I don't know what got into me?"

Realization hit Anna, and she jumped to her feet, pulling Lady J with her. "Where are we going? What's going on?" Lady J asked.

Anna pulled her into the infirmary, sitting Lady J down on a bed. Anna found a doctor, leading him over to the waiting Joe, "Take her blood."

"Excuse me?" The doctor asked.

"Take her blood, for a sample." Anna demanded.

"I can't just take someone's blood." The doctor said.

"Do it." Anna said, giving him her best determined look, "Now."

The doctor finally caved, drawing Lady J's blood. He put it on a small slide and slid it under the microscope and sighed, placing his eyes over the scope. The doctor frowned, doing a slight double take. He looked at Anna in surprise, "What is it?"

Anna turned to a confused and slightly frightened Lady J, "J, you're infected with nano-commanders."

_**First of all, can I just give a big THANK YOU to all of you awesome, lovely people who have gotten me to over 100 reviews! That is such an accomplishment for me as a writer, and I can't thank you enough! **_

_**Secondly, I'm sorry for killing off Duke, but I wanted something dramatic, like a scene in a movie to make you wonder how they'll ever win now. At least that's what I was going for...**_

_**Lastly, I want to apologize for chapter 13 being repeated twice! I forgot to in my last chapter so I am now! I have to copy and paste my chapters into fanfiction, and for some reason it copies them twice. I forgot to check this one, but I fixed it now so we're all good! Thank you to everyone who let me know about it, you're fantastic!**_


	16. Chapter 16

Anna didn't know what to do. It was the first time in her life that she truly felt alone, and she wondered how Snake Eyes had dealt with it. She couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, Snake was there.

It was two in the morning when she numbly walked to the lounge to get a soda.

When she walked into the lounge, she found Ripcord sitting alone at the table he and Duke would sit and laugh at. His arm was lying on the table holding a cup of coffee. His face was stoic, gaze set on the wall in front of him. Anna's heart broke for him, losing Duke must have been hard on him.

"Hey Ripcord." she said, sitting in front of him.

He gave her a half-hearted smile, "Hey."

"How are you doing?" she asked.

Ripcord nodded slowly, "I'm going."

"Yeah, me too."

"I just...can't believe he's gone." Ripcord said, "After everything he and I have been through, he's gone. I mean he was more like my brother than my actual brother."

"I'm sorry Ripcord, I guess I know the feeling." Anna said, "I never thought Snake would be the one to get infected, if anyone was to get infected."

"I guess we're both at a loss here." Ripcord said, "I can't even sleep."

"Me either." Anna said.

They both sat in silence before Scarlett rounded the corner. She looked slightly surprised before asking, "You can't sleep either?"

Ripcord and Anna shook their heads, moving over to let Scarlett sit with them at their table. No one said a word, they just sat there somehow comforted by each other's company.

"I'm going to find Storm Shadow." Anna said.

"He was in the training room last time I saw him." Scarlett said.

Anna nodded and started off to the training room. When she got there, there were various Joes lifting weights and other things. Leatherneck was there with some of the recruits, shouting at them to pick up the pace with their jogging. She liked the former marine drill sergeant, and admired the insults he managed to come up with.

"Hey Leatherneck, can I talk to you for a sec?" She asked him while he was in between insults.

"Yeah sure!" he said, "Hey, how are doing, I heard about Snake Eyes."

"I'm okay." She said, "But anyway, have you seen Storm Shadow?"

"Yeah he was just here jumping around like ninjas do." Leatherneck said, "I just don't understand how y'all can do that stuff."

"Is he still here?"

"Naw, Cover Girl came and got him. Said someone was here from some clan. Arash...akrash...I can't remember what they said." Leatherneck said shrugging.

"Arashikage?" Anna asked.

"There you go, Arashikage." Leatherneck said.

Anna frowned and said thank you, walking around the base trying to find him. In the end she resorted to going back to her room, figuring he'd come there anyway.

Sure enough, as she rounded the corner to go to her room, she found him leaning against the wall next to her room. Beside him, stood a woman in a red suit, her black hair pulled into a pony tail.

"Anna, I want you to meet my cousin." Storm Shadow said.

The woman put her hands together and bowed, "My name is Jinx."

"Anna." Anna said, returning Jinx's gesture.

"I've come to help." Jinx said, "When the Blind Master heard of Snake Eye's fall, he sent me right away." Jinx's face radiated grief, "He was my teacher, I his apprentice. I will do everything in my power to get him back. An Arashikage member never leaves another behind."

"Thank you, Jinx." Anna said, "You're Storm Shadow's cousin?"

"Unfortunately." Jinx said, nudging Storm Shadow's arm. The white ninja shook his head but smiled.

"You should come meet the rest of the team." Anna sad, leading Jinx down the hall with her, Storm Shadow trailing behind them.

"So Snake Eyes was your teacher?" Anna asked.

Jinx smiled, "Besides the Blind Master, yes. He and I did a lot of missions together. Snake Eyes is my friend, and one of the only ones I know I can trust with my life."

Anna watched Jinx, feeling a slight relief slide over her, "I'm glad we have something in common."

"Storm Shadow talks highly of you." Jinx said quietly, so that Storm Shadow couldn't hear, "He says you are a great warrior, and the lover of Snake Eyes."

Anna felt her face turn red, "Yeah, I am."

"That's unfortunate." Jinx said, "I mean, not for you, I'm happy Snake found you. But Storm Shadow, he truly likes you."

"I like him too." Anna said.

"No, Anna, Storm Shadow likes you, like you like Snake Eyes." Jinx said.

Anna felt her face turn to shock, looking behind her at Storm Shadow who was inspecting one of his ninja stars. She looked back at Jinx, "What?"

Jinx nodded, "Even I can see that."

Anna felt horrible. All this time she'd talked about Snake, grieved over Snake, and Storm Shadow had to listen to all of it. All this time, he'd felt something for her.

She really was a ninja magnet.

Anna strode into the lounge and found Ripcord and Scarlett still seated at the table, Ripcord actually smiling at something Scarlett had said.

Scarlett looked up as they approached, "Anna, who's this?"

"This is Jinx," Anna said, "An old apprentice of Snake Eyes. She's come to help."

"Well," Ripcord said, "I guess it's a good thing your nickname didn't stick."

"I guess so." Anna said, smiling.

Jinx shook Scarlett and Ripcord's hands, "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah you too." Ripcord said.

Jinx sat down at the table and started to talk with the two Joes. Anna watched them communicate, already liking the new ninja.

"Anna." Cover Girl tapped her shoulder, "This just arrived for you." she handed her an envelope with her name scribbled on the front.

"Thanks." She said, frowning. She opened the envelope and four words were written on a sheet of paper: Mill Park, 2:00 - FF. She checked the clock, it was one thirty.

She knew it was suspicious, it was very suspicious. It didn't have a name, only the initials FF. She had no idea who FF was.

"What's that?" Storm Shadow asked.

Anna quickly folded the paper, slipping it back into the envelope, "Letter from my grandma." she said, "Just the usual 'how are you?', 'are you staying safe?' stuff."

Storm Shadow nodded.

"I think I'm going to go out for a bit." Anna said, "Get a breath of fresh air."

"Good idea." Ripcord said, "Can I come with?"

"Oh," Anna stuttered, "I, uh, I'd rather just be by myself for a bit."

"Understandable." Ripcord said.

Anna went to her room, leaving Storm Shadow and Jinx, and gathered the ninja stars Storm Shadow had given her. She couldn't bring her katanas, but she wore a shoulder holster with a gun. She put a sweatshirt on, and was off.

She went out to the storage shed and was met by a slew of guards. "Hey guys, I was the one who drove this thing home, I think you can trust me."

They shared quick glances at each other, but handed her the keys to the bugatti anyway. She drove the twenty minute drive to Mill Park, her heart pounding.

When she got there, she didn't see anyone suspicious. She figured FF knew who she was, so she sat on a bench overlooking the lake and waited. There was a young couple on the other side of the lake sitting on a blanket and watching the ducks. They laughed and hugged, sharing a quick kiss, and Anna couldn't help but feel the pain of Snake's absence.

There was the sound of a motorcycle behind her, and someone jumping off. They removed their helmet and the sound of their boots hitting the concrete grew louder until they sat down next to her.

Anna looked over and was shocked to find the last person she'd expect to see.

Firefly.

"Are you here to kill me?" Anna asked.

"Actually, I'm in Europe right now, hunting down a rogue operative." Firefly said, "At least that's what Cobra Commander thinks."

"What do you want then?" she asked.

"When Snake Eyes isn't being controlled by Cobra Commander, it's my job to keep an eye on him." Firefly said, "He's my hero, he really is. From one ninja master to the other, he's my idol, and you don't hear me say that too often. We were pretty good friends when I was a Joe." Firefly shrugged, "He talked about you all the time, and I started feeling a little sorry for the guy."

"And?"

"I decided to play the good card." Firefly said.

"What does that mean?" Anna asked.

"As an ex-Joe, sometimes the memories of my old friends come back to haunt me. When I found out they killed Hawk..." he trailed off for a moment and then continued, "Cobra Commander and I aren't on very good terms right now. So," he produced four vials of yellow liquid, "I had a brief change of heart, and decided to bring you these."

"What are they?" Anna asked, taking the vials from him.

"The antidote to the serum Snake Eyes is infected with." Firefly said, "Storm Shadow got in contact with Phoenix, and she was able to get these to me."

Anna's head snapped up to him in shock, "This is the antidote?"

"I wouldn't tell you it is if it isn't."

"Why?" she asked, "Why are you helping us?"

"Sometimes even the bad guy can be a good guy." Firefly said, winking, "I like to mix things up sometimes. Be the underdog. But don't get used to it, I could be shooting at your ass next week."

"Thanks." she muttered.

"Another thing," Firefly said, "if I were you, I'd be checking the water around your base. Probably around the city too."

"Why?"

"It may or may not contain the serum."

"Shit." Anna said, "That's how he's playing this."

"Yeah." Firefly said, groaning as he rose to his feet, "Now you didn't see me, I didn't give you that, and we never had this conversation."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Anna said.

"And if I see you around Cobra HQ," Firefly shrugged, "I just might happen to look the other way."

"Thank you, Firefly."

"Sounds weird to say, don't it?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And if anyone asks, yes, I really am that handsome."

Anna stared at him, "Okay?"

Firefly sobered, "In all seriousness, I hope you get Snake back. He was my mentor when I was a Joe, and a friend. What Cobra's done with him makes even my skin crawl."

"Well hopefully with the antidote I can get to him." Anna said.

"I'll do what I can to help, but just this once." he said, holding up a finger, "Don't go thinking I'm a good guy now."

Anna smiled, "You're being pretty good right now."

"Give me back the antidote." he said.

"No." Anna put them in her bag.

"Then be quiet."

"Yes sir." she said.

"And remember, this never happened." Firefly said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Anna shrugged. She watched as he walked over to his bike, picking up his helmet. Before he put it on, he pointed to the bugatti, "This yours?"

"Maybe."

He grinned, "Hot."

Anna rolled her eyes and he put on his helmet, starting his bike. She watched as he pulled out of the park, getting back onto the freeway. She pulled a vile of antidote out of the bag she had brought with, and laughed.

They were going to get Snake back.

**_I'm kind of getting really excited about my story right now! I'm planning on throwing some characters from the cartoon in here, so if they're ones we haven't seen in the movies I'll try to hint at what their role in the Joes is for those of you who didn't watch the cartoon. And for some reason I have this fascination with Firefly right now, I just love the guy!_**

_** I want to thank everyone again for reviewing, you are all so awesome! **_


	17. Chapter 17

Storm Shadow sat on the roof outside, laying on the hard cement and looking up at the sky. He was trying to wrap his brain around everything that had happened. He knew Cobra Commander was happy, knew he'd be making his next move soon.

The death of General Hawk had brought down the Joe's moral, and now with the loss of Snake Eyes and Duke, they had given up faith in themselves. Three of their biggest leaders had been either killed or injected, and Storm Shadow couldn't blame their grief.

The blue sky and scent of the breeze sparked a memory, one of when he was younger and training at the Arashikage.

Storm Shadow had been getting a pear out of the kitchens at night, when he noticed someone out in the courtyards. At first he had thought it was an intruder, but after watching the figure move around the courtyards, twisting and striking with their katanas, he realized it was Snake Eyes.

Storm Shadow hated him. He hated that the Hard Master had taken him in, hated that he started training him with Storm Shadow, and hated that the Hard Master had started taking a bigger interest in Snake Eyes than him.

Storm Shadow went outside with his katanas and laughed, "What are you doing?"

Snake Eyes whirled around and sighed, "Just practicing."

Storm Shadow arched an eyebrow, "In the middle of the night?"

"It's better that way." Snake Eyes said, "There's no one watching you to make you feel pressured. And you can do whatever you want and not feel ashamed if you make a mistake."

"I never make mistakes." Storm Shadow said, sticking out his chest, "The Hard Master said I had the potential to be the best warrior he'd ever trained. That's when I first started training with him, so who knows, I'm probably the best already."

Snake Eyes looked like he was about to say something, but instead swung his katana and tried to strike out while doing a twist, but he dropped it.

Storm Shadow rolled his eyes, "You're doing it wrong."

"I know, but I don't know how to have my arm positioned." Snake Eyes said.

Storm Shadow unsheathed one of his katanas and pointed it, "Watch." He did the exact same thing Snake Eyes had tried doing, and managed to hold onto his katana. He eyed Snake Eyes, "Just flick your wrist around like this," Storm Shadow demonstrated the wrist movement, "and you'll get it."

Snake Eyes did his attack and didn't drop his sword that time. He had smiled and said, "Gee, thanks Storm Shadow."

"That's the only thing I'm going to help you with." Storm Shadow said.

Snake Eyes shrugged, "Okay, I don't need your help with anything, that was the only thing I needed to practice on."

"Good for you, now I'm going to bed and not being foolish like you." Storm Shadow said, turning to go back to his room.

"Storm Shadow?" Snake Eyes asked, making the young white-clad warrior turn around, "Don't you think this is stupid?"

"What?"

"Us fighting." Snake Eyes said, "I mean, we have to fight for our place in training, but can't we just be friends? It would be a lot more easier."

Storm Shadow sighed, "We could never be friends, Snake Eyes."

Snake Eyes frowned, "Why not?"

"Because some day we're going to find out who the better warrior is, and the Hard Master is going to favor them and take them in to train them to be a Master. And whoever that is is going to be lucky, and the other is going to feel horrible. Our friendship would be ruined, and we'd both feel guilty. So you see, it's better not being friends now so we don't feel guilty about breaking up our friendship later."

Snake Eyes frowned again, "That makes some sense I guess."

"And I just don't really like you either." Storm Shadow said.

Snake Eyes rolled his dark eyes, "Well, if you ever need a friend, I'll always be there."

"Right." Storm Shadow had muttered, turning around to go back to his room.

Now he wished he could take the black ninja up on his offer. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Snake more than anything right now. After all the years of fighting and bitter hatred towards each other, somewhere along the line, Storm Shadow had learned to look up to him.

And he didn't like to admit that either.

He knew Snake Eyes was the better warrior, he had always known that. From the first time they had fought in the kitchen, the first time he had met Snake Eyes, he had known. He hadn't seen it at first, blinded by his own desire to be everything his uncle had wanted him to be. But gradually, little by little, he had been surpassed by Snake Eyes.

For the first time in his life, Storm Shadow didn't know what to do. He needed a plan to get Snake back, but he had no idea how to do it. How did you go back to the Cobra base without the same thing happening again? He didn't want it to be his mission that got everyone killed, especially because there were only a select few who actually trusted him.

All he knew was that he needed to get Snake back, and if not for Snake himself, for Anna. He hated the way she seemed so broken by his loss. He knew she was a great warrior, she had the potential to become as good as Snake Eyes and him, so seeing her like that had opened his eyes. Storm Shadow hadn't allowed himself to feel many emotions in his time at Cobra, but the feelings he felt when he talked to Anna he couldn't control. He knew she didn't feel anything but friendship towards him, she had Snake Eyes, but if it meant making her happy he would give his life to get Snake Eyes back.

A black car suddenly came speeding into the courtyard, coming to a screeching halt by the doors to the G.I. Joe base. Storm Shadow looked down and saw Anna get out, carrying a bag with her. She quickly shut the door and started walking towards the doors when he called out, "You're a crazy driver!"

She looked around the courtyard until finally looking up and smiled at him, "Well, like Duke always said, drive it like you stole it!"

"What do you have there?" he asked.

"Come to the lounge and you'll find out!" she called up to him.

He stood and stretched, groaning as he did. He slowly made his way down to the lounge where he found Anna standing at a table. Seated at the table were Jinx, Ripcord, Scarlett, Roadblock, and a red nosed Lady J.

"Good, now that Storm Shadow's here, I'll show you guys." Anna said excitedly. The others looked at her in curiosity.

She carefully pulled out a vial of yellow liquid, holding it up so they all could see. Everyone, including Storm Shadow, looked at it blankly.

"What is it?" Ripcord asked.

Anna sighed quickly, smiling, "It's the antidote."

Even Storm Shadow felt his face change to a look of surprise.

"What?" Scarlett asked.

"It's the antidote to the serum Snake and Lady J are infected with." Anna said, "I got it from an old friend of the Joes."

"Who?" they all stared at her in curiosity.

"Firefly." Anna said.

"Oh." Ripcord said, "Anna, you can't trust that dude! That's probably poison!"

"Yeah, Anna, that's not very safe." Scarlett said, "And you shouldn't have gone to meet him alone, he could have killed you."

"But he didn't!" Anna said, "And he sounded really sincere about it. He actually sounded like he was sorry for everything."

"He's a master at that." Storm Shadow said, "You can never trust him. He's a Cobra operative."

Anna had looked frustrated as the others said their comments, but a look of anger had flashed through her eyes. She crossed her arms when he finished talking, "Weren't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"You were a Cobra, too Storm Shadow, and I gave you a chance." Anna said, "You just said I couldn't trust him because he is a Cobra, how do I know you're just not playing us right now?"

"What?" Storm Shadow asked, "You know I'm here to help."

"Well then why is everyone so set on telling her this isn't the antidote?" Lady J spoke up, "Send it to Doc, tell him to test it. He has a sample of my blood, see if it gets rid of the nano-commanders."

They all agreed that's what they'd do. Roadblock took a small sample of the liquid down to the hospital, and Anna disappeared, but Storm Shadow knew where to go.

He knocked on her door and there was a small hesitation before she opened it slightly, "What?"

"Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"About what just happened." Storm Shadow said.

She opened the door and allowed him to come inside, flopping on her bed. Storm Shadow sat next to her and said, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." She said, "I was just so excited to show it to everyone and right away they all just shut me down."

"You have to admit, it is a little suspicious." Storm Shadow said.

"Well, I guess it is to you guys, but you didn't see his face, Storm Shadow." Anna sat up, "He looked like he was truly upset. He even said if he saw us around base he'd turn the other way."

"I guess we'll have to see." Storm Shadow said.

"What were you doing on the roof?" Anna asked.

"Just thinking." he said.

Suddenly she sat up and hugged him. He was mildly surprised when he put his arms around her and said, "Where's this coming from?"

"I'm sorry." she said quietly.

"For what?"

"For not caring about you like you want me to."

Storm Shadow felt his stomach drop. How did she know? He broke their embrace to look at her and said, "What?"

"Jinx told me you cared about me like Snake does." Anna said, "And I just wanted to say I was sorry for not being able to do that."

Storm Shadow chuckled softly, "You don't have to apologize."

"I know." she said, shrugging, "But I'm a nice person."

"Sure." Storm Shadow said, "So you really think this is the antidote?"

"Yes." she said, " I do."

"Then I guess Snake Eyes is coming home." Storm Shadow said.

Anna smiled, "We just have to figure out how."

Storm Shadow suddenly knew. He knew how to do it. He stood up and said, "I have a plan."

_**So I had the idea in my head that I wanted to show Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow when they were younger. I hope you all like that!**_

_**I don't have much to say today, so adios mis amigos y amigas, read and review, and most importantly, enjoy!**_


	18. Chapter 18

Lady J sat next to Anna, having been called by Storm Shadow to come to her room. The white ninja stood in front of them and said, "I've called you here for Snake Eyes's rescue mission."

Lady J felt her mouth open and was about to say something, but Anna beat her to it, "What?" She asked excitedly, "Are you serious?"

Storm Shadow's expression remained monotone and he said, "Completely."

The ninja assistant jumped to her feet and hugged Storm Shadow while jumping up and down, "Thank you Storm Shadow!"

"What's the plan?" Lady J asked.

"We're your prisoners." Storm Shadow said, "We injected you with only a small dose of the antidote, so you're still prone to Cobra Commander's control. However," he said, cutting off her statement, "you cannot be controlled by him. You can only feel him trying to control you, you can hear what he's trying to say through you, and you can feel what he's trying to make you think. Therefore, I need you to play the part he's trying to make you be. When we get to the base, I need you to pretend that the serum has gone to your head and you're just fully Cobra now."

"So you want me to pretend I'm a bad guy?" Lady J asked.

"Precisely." Storm Shadow asked, "It's easy."

"For you maybe but there's a small problem." Lady J said, "I'm not an evil maniac."

Storm Shadow arched an eyebrow, "It's easy, talk in a lower voice, and always have a frown on your face. Or you can do the seductive half smile, it really doesn't matter. Just don't smile or do nice things. Do bad things." Storm Shadow said, "If you feel like you wouldn't like something, yell at someone."

Anna interrupted them and said, "Who else is coming?"

"It's just us."

"What?" Anna asked, "Three? You saw what happened last time!"

"But if Cobra Commander thinks we're prisoners, he won't kill us." Storm Shadow said, "We have to leave now before anyone questions what we're doing."

"We're not telling anyone?" Anna asked, "What happens if this goes sour?"

"Lady J is free to leave whenever she feels like it, she can leave and warn the other Joes." Storm Shadow said.

"I don't know about this Storm Shadow, it's too risky." Lady J said.

Anna felt the same but said, "It's the only way we can get Snake back."

Storm Shadow nodded, "And we need to do it soon before we don't have the chance again."

"Please." Anna said to Lady J.

Lady J sighed, "Okay, for Snake Eyes."

"Then get your gear, we leave soon." Storm Shadow said.

"We're leaving now?" Lady J asked.

"The sooner the better, we can't let Snake Eyes fall victim any longer." Storm Shadow said, "There's no telling what the serum could do once it's inside you for a long period of time."

"He's right." Anna said, standing near the door. She was holding the red cloth Snake had given her, staring at it intently.

"Well, I guess I'll go get my stuff." Lady J said, "Meet back here when we're ready?"

Anna nodded, "Yeah."

Anna watched Lady J leave and turned to Storm Shadow, "You really think this will work?"

Storm Shadow nodded, "I know it will."

"Would you be doing this if it weren't for me?" Anna asked, "If I wouldn't have pressed the issue so much?"

"Of course." Storm Shadow said, "Whether or not you think so, I love Snake Eyes. He may be my rival, but he's still my brother. And like Jinx said, an Arashikage never leaves another member behind." he grinned, "Even if I despise him."

"Very touching." Anna said, "I'll remember to tell him you love him."

Storm Shadow arched an eyebrow, "You can't prove I ever said that."

"Maybe not, but at least we know you have a soft spot Mr. Ninja." she said, smiling.

"You should get ready." Storm Shadow said, "I'm going to go retrieve my weapons."'

Anna watched him go and again changed into her armor. She neatly tucked two knives up her sleeves, and one in her right boot. She put the ninja stars from Storm Shadow into her side pockets, and strapped her katana sheaths to her back. She sat on her bed and sharpened them slowly like she had seen Snake Eyes do. Finally she sheathed the katanas and stood, stretching. The piece of red cloth stood out in the corner of her eye, and she picked it up, running her thumbs over it.

To show her just how much she had meant to him.

The little boy in the picture flashed through her mind. His smile and the light in his eyes almost making her doubt it was the ninja behind the mask. She wanted nothing more than to see those eyes, to run a hand along his jaw.

To see him smile.

She tucked the red cloth inside her chest plate and strapped a nunchuck to her left hip. It all made her feel pretty badass.

Lady J was the first to come back, her Joe combat uniform on, a gun strapped to her hip, and a bigger one strapped to her back. She sighed, "Ready."

"Me too." Anna said.

"I don't know if I can do this." Lady J said.

"Hey," Anna said, "you're a G.I. Joe, you can do anything. What happened to the Lady J I know? The Lady J that charged through fire during a training exercise with guns blazing? I watched you drop kick Roadblock, the biggest man I know. I'm pretty sure you're the only one who's ever made that man feel pain. If you can drop him, I'm pretty sure you can act."

Lady J smiled and laughed, "I remember that day. He shook my hand after the exercise."

"J, you're going to be fine. We're going to be fine. We're going to get Snake back." Anna said.

Lady J nodded, "Yes, we will."

Storm Shadow finally entered the room saying, "It's now or never."

"Let's do it." Lady J said.

"Drive it like you stole it." Anna said.

Storm Shadow and Lady J stared at her and she smiled crookedly, "I just thought it'd be nice to have a little part of Duke with us."

They all walked through the halls, which were surprisingly empty. As they passed the lounge, Anna saw Jinx leaning against the door frame. She saw Jinx and Storm Shadow's gazes meet and Jinx's head nodded ever so slightly, if she hadn't been trained to detect movement she wouldn't have caught it.

The Bugatti was still parked in the same place Anna had left it, and they all got in, Lady J taking the driver's seat. They took all the roads Storm Shadow directed her in, and soon they were in the area of the base. Lady J stopped at a chain link fence that bordered a tall brick building that looked like an old factory.

"This is it." Storm Shadow said.

"Looks a lot different in the daylight." Lady J muttered.

"Get out." Storm Shadow said. Lady J immediately opened her door, but Storm Shadow caught Anna's arm before she got out, "Do you trust me?" he asked her.

"Of course I do." she said with confusion.

"Then I need you to trust everything I'm about to do." He said.

"What? I-"

He abruptly opened his door and got out, and before she could get out, he took her roughly by the arm and wrenched her out of the car. Lady J watched in surprise, he mouth open in an O, and was ready to say something when Storm Shadow shot her a look that said to play along.

Lady J closed her mouth and frowned as best as she could, but despite the situation, Anna had to stifle a giggle at the Joe's face.

Storm Shadow drug her forward, and Lady J took up a spot by his side. Two men dressed in Cobra armor had come out of the building and were now standing on the other side of the fence, watching the trio.

"Storm Shadow, you have a lot of nerve showing up here." One of them said.

"Cobra Commander isn't going to spare you this time." The other said.

"And why not?" Storm Shadow asked, holding out a hand, "I have the other ninja. If he wants an army, she's the one that can ultimately complete it."

The two guards shared glances before nodding at Lady J, "Who's this broad."

Storm Shadow looked at Lady J who looked from him to the guards and back before she realized she should talk, "I'm Lady J." she said quietly.

"What?" the other guard asked.

Storm Shadow shot her a glare and Lady J finally took a deep breath and shouted, "Can you not hear me? I said my name is Lady J! Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"No ma'am." The guard said.

"Good." Lady J said, "Now are you going to keep us standing out here all day or are you going to let us in?"

Storm Shadow arched his eyebrows, "You heard the woman."

The guards shared another glance before opening the fence. Storm Shadow drug Anna along, and Lady J took the lead behind the guards. She slightly turned around, and Storm Shadow gave her a quick thumbs up.

The guards stopped them at the door and said, "Wait here."

They both entered the base and closed the heavy metal door. They said nothing to each other, knowing full well cameras were watching them from every corner of the compound.

Finally the doors opened, and Anna's blood ran cold. Out from the blackened building, strode Cobra Commander himself.

"Storm Shadow, I have to admit, you fooled even me with your actions." Cobra Commander hissed.

Storm Shadow smiled, "You really doubt me?"

"Never again." Cobra Commander said, "And Lady J, my new follower."

Lady J smiled slyly, "Sir."

Cobra Commander's head turned to Anna, "And who is this?"

"Her name is Anna, Snake Eyes's apprentice." Storm Shadow said, "I thought she'd be the perfect addition in our war against the Joes."

Anna did her best to make her face brave and scared at the same time. She did admit, though, Cobra Commander's presence alone could make a person cry.

"Well then, by all means let's get her under my control." Cobra Commander said, holding out his hand to usher them forward.

Inside was a mess of support beams, weapons, and Cobra operatives. The place was like a walking death trap. Anna felt her stomach tighten as the metal doors closed with a slam that echoed through the building.

"I would like to introduce you to someone." Cobra Commander said, as the walked around the corner. Standing in the middle of the hall with his hands behind his back, was Snake Eyes.

Anna couldn't help the gasp that came out upon seeing him. He still wore his same old black armor, but in place of the Arashikage symbol was the red Cobra head, and it was also emblazoned on his chest. He still wore a helmet, but his was almost an exact replica of Cobra Commander's. On his back was a red cape that billowed in the slight breeze.

"What in the hell did you do to him?" Anna asked.

She felt a stinging pain across her cheek and looked up to find that Storm Shadow had slapped her. Lady J let out a small chuckle, and Cobra Commander said, "I've made him a Cobra. Now, Snake Eyes, I would like you to escort Anna to the infirmary."

Snake Eyes moved mechanically across the hall and took Anna by the arm. Anna struggled in his grip, "No! Let go of me! Snake!"

She managed to break free of his grip and started running towards Storm Shadow. She felt her head snap forward and then everything was black.

_**Well, again I don't have much to say other than read, review, and enjoy!**_


	19. Chapter 19

Anna blinked, her vision starting to focus. Her head pounded and she knew someone had knocked her out, probably Snake Eyes.

Her arms and legs were strapped to a reclining bed, and a vial of purple liquid sat on a table next to the bed. She looked around the room and saw no one, and started trying to break free of her bonds. She struggled and wrenched on them, trying anything to get out. But they were tight and wouldn't budge. Across the room, on a table, laid her weapons.

Anna sighed frustratedly and hoped desperately Storm Shadow or Lady J would find a way to come save her. The door opened and Anna's heart leapt hoping it was them, but a doctor in a white lab coat entered. He looked at her with cool blue eyes and said, "Well, they've brought me another one."

Anna glared at him, wanting nothing more than to drop kick him.

"Anna, that's your name isn't it?" He asked, not waiting for a reply, "We're going to make you one of us."

"I don't want to be one of you." She said lowly.

He looked into her eyes and smiled twistedly, "No one ever does."

He went about his business, gathering bandages and wipes and other things. Finally he strode over to her bed and sat down on a small stool, whistling. Anna watched him with a feeling of horror. The doctor was obviously psychotic.

"You'll feel just a small pinch and then the voice of our Cobra Commander will fill your mind. You won't even remember you were a Joe." The doctor said.

She looked down and saw a ninja star still in her pocket that they must have missed.

"Is that what happened to Snake Eyes?" Anna asked him, trying to stall him while she dug the star out of her pocket. She hid it in the palm of her hand, starting to cut into the bonds.

"Yes, that is precisely what happened to him. He's more powerful now, more menacing. None of the other Cobras will even speak to him out of fear. He's like another Cobra Commander." The doctor said.

Anna felt anger rise up in her, "You guys are sick."

"And soon you will be too." The doctor said, smiling again.

She started cutting into the bonds faster as the doctor wiped her left arm with a sanitary cloth. He picked up the needle and touched her skin where he would inject her to make sure he could see her vein. Anna cut faster, but she knew she wouldn't make it in time.

The doctor touched the needle to her skin and flicked his eyes up to hers. She saw him smile and knew it was over.

A black gloved hand slapped the doctor's shoulder, and the needle moved away from her arm. Both the doctor and Anna looked up, surprised to see Snake Eyes. He stood over them, his presence, as always, powerful.

He motioned for the doctor to stand up and the doctor said, "What are you doing?"

Anna took the momentary distraction to start cutting on her bond again. She was almost through when Snake Eyes dismissed the doctor and sat down on the stool. The doctor paused momentarily at the door before shutting it behind him.

"Snake?" Anna asked quietly.

Snake Eyes didn't acknowledge her, only wiped her arm with a sanitary cloth like the doctor had done. "I know you're in there." She said.

He looked up at her and stared at her for a moment, before looking back down at her arm.

There was a small pop, and Anna felt her wrist break free from the bond. Snake Eyes picked up the needle and she felt it poke into her skin. She swung her arm and punched Snake in the side of the head, the needle stabbing deeper into her arm. She grimaced as she pulled it out, making sure none of the serum had been injected into her.

Snake Eyes stood up and grabbed the arm she held the needle with, trying to take it from her. Anna twisted her hand to keep the needle away from him, and threw it as far as she could across the room. Snake punched her in the face hard, sending her reeling.

Through the pain in her eye, she managed to free her other hand and her right foot when Snake came after her again. He took her by the throat, squeezing. Her vision blackened, and she could barely breath as she barely held his arm away from her, using all her strength to keep it away.

She kicked her knee into his stomach and he dropped the needle, falling to the floor. Anna gasped for breath and started coughing as she sat up and freed her other leg. She swung herself off the table and grabbed her katanas, whirling around to find Snake Eyes inches away from her.

He grabbed her hair and slammed her head down on the table, causing her to fall to the floor. He lifted her to her feet by the back of her armor and let her recover from the shock.

Anna knew she was no match for Snake Eyes, he was a master ninja, and she was an apprentice. She stood her ground, though, as he drew his katanas. He swung them at her, and she managed to block every swing, but he was too quick for her, and he punched her again. She fell into the wall and ducked before his katana could decapitate her.

"Snake Eyes!" she cried, "Stop it, it's me! It's Anna!"

He swung at her again, and slashed a cut across her right eye. She cried out in pain, wiping blood out of her eye, and he kicked the back of her knee making her fall to her knees. She sat there defeated, knowing full well he'd kill her in the end even if she fought back.

"Snake." she choked out, watching him raise a katana to her face, "Please." she took the red cloth out of her chest plate and held it up for him to see, "You gave this to me. Do you remember? Because you love me."

Snake Eyes's head turned to the side slightly, the blade of his katana hovering over her face hesitantly. For a moment she thought it had worked, the red cloth had jogged his memory, but he snapped out of it and rose the katana again, this time to strike. Anna closed her eyes, waiting for it to be over.

Out of nowhere, Storm Shadow lept onto Snake Eyes's back, slapping the arm that held the katana down, and sank the vile of yellow antidote into Snake's neck. Storm Shadow managed to fully inject him, before Snake threw him to the floor and wrenched the needle out of his neck.

Snake fell to his knees and touched his head to the floor. He stayed like that for a long time, and Storm Shadow crawled over to Anna, "Are you alright?"

Anna nodded, "Yeah."

They both watched as Snake sat back on his knees and looked around before looking at his hands.

"Snake?" Anna asked hesitantly.

He slowly looked up at her. Storm Shadow put a hand on her shoulder whispering, "I'm going to get Lady J."

Anna was still staring at Snake, and she said, "Snake is that you?"

He hesitantly held out a hand that grazed the cut across her eye, "I...did this." his shaking hands signed.

"Snake!" Anna sighed, relieved. She jumped towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she clung to him, feeling his arms hold her tight. She moved away so she could look into his mask, "Good to have you back."

"Anna, how could I do this to you?" He signed.

"It wasn't you, Snake, it wasn't you." she said.

The hands that held either side of her face moved to the back of his mask, and she heard a click. The mask moved away, and instead of metallic black, a pair of blue eyes stared back at her. Anna's breath caught, and she reached out to touch his cheek. His eyes closed as her hands ran over his face and through his short brown hair, a little stubble on his chin.

Anna laughed, feeling more tears fall from her eyes. He looked back up at her, his eyes bright, and he smiled. Her heart skipped a beat when he did, and she knew she wanted to be with him forever.

"This is you." She whispered, "This is Snake Eyes."

He nodded, his smile fading to a small one playing on his lips, which she brushed a finger over. His hand reached up to lie behind her head and he moved so that their faces were inches away. Anna couldn't breath, it was like someone was suffocating her. Slowly, his lips brushed against hers, sending a flare of fire through her body. The hand at the back of her neck pushed her head forward, and he kissed her more fervently. His other hand slipped down to wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him. Their kiss was passionate, filled with desire and longing for each other.

Snake was the first one to pull away, taking her in with his blue eyes. He wiped the blood off her face, trailing his hand down to brush her lips with his thumb.

Footsteps sounded in the hall, and Anna took one last look at his face, traced his jaw one last time, before putting the mask back on him. She knew it wouldn't be the last time she saw him though, that was certain.

Storm Shadow and Lady J shoved their heads in the door, "We have to go know." Storm Shadow said, "We managed to slip away from Cobra Commander."

Snake Eyes helped Anna to her feet, before tearing the red cape off his shoulders, "That thing was terrible." he signed.

Storm Shadow lead them through the halls, Cobra operatives watching them as they went. Snake Eyes played his part, along with Anna, the 'newly turned' Cobra.

"Stop them!" Cobra Commander shouted across the warehouse.

Storm Shadow started running, followed closely by the others. Lady J started shooting people with her rifle, and Storm Shadow was throwing ninja stars left and right. Snake Eyes only had his katanas, but Anna threw her ninja stars.

They all rounded a corner to find Firefly striding down the hall. He looked mildly surprised at them all, before his eyes found Anna's. For a moment she thought he would go back on his word, but he merely put his hands behind his back and smiled, continuing in the direction he had been heading. As he passed her, he winked at Anna, who smiled and nodded gratefully to him.

Storm Shadow continued running again, and behind them they heard Firefly say, "I saw Storm Shadow go that way." Footsteps started running away from them.

Storm Shadow halted them before they rounded the last corner, "We're going to be out in the open. They'll be able to see us and shoot at us. Are you ready?"

They all nodded, Lady J's eyes alive with fiery determination, and Anna knew she was back.

Shots fired all around them as they ran towards the door. They whistled past Anna and struck at her feet as she ran as fast as she could. A man ran in front of the door to block it, but Storm Shadow hit him with a ninja star.

The burst outside, but it was already crawling with Cobras. Storm Shadow came to a screeching halt, almost making Lady J run into him, as dozens of men surrounded them on all side.

"Storm Shadow." Anna said nervously, knowing full well they were the only ones on the mission, "What do we do?"

Storm Shadow's eyes flicked around at the Cobra's moving in on them. Snake Eyes drew his katanas.

From over the treetops, a helicopter soared over them, and bullets rained down around them. Lady J, Anna, and Snake Eyes ducked, thinking they were firing at them. But Anna saw Cobra operatives falling to the ground.

In front of them, the roar of a tank could be heard, and out of nowhere one came crashing through the fence. The top opened and Cover Girl popped out with a bazooka, sending a shot at the warehouse. It hit with a thundering boom, bricks falling everywhere. Out of the bushes came the pops of automatic rifles and dozens of Joes stealthily moved into the courtyard. The helicopter stopped firing, and Roadblock, Scarlett, Ripcord, and Jinx leapt down from it, firing their guns.

Before she knew it, Anna was surrounded by her Joes, who had the Cobras now surrounded. They fell to their knees with their hands behind their heads, a look of defeat on their faces.

Anna sighed in relief as Roadblock gave her a fist bump, "Good to see you, Block." she said.

"I see you got Snake back." He said, bumping Snake's forearm.

"No thanks to Storm Shadow." Anna said, "How'd you all know we were here?"

"Storm Shadow also told me about his plan." Jinx spoke up from behind Roadblock, "It was my duty to assemble the Joes for an extraction."

Anna's gaze traveled to Storm Shadow who stood on his own watching them, "Of course I knew we wouldn't get out that easy."

"Thank you." Anna said, feeling Snake wrap an arm around her.

A helicopter rose up from behind the building and they all looked up to see Cobra Commander standing in the chopper. Cover Girl rose her bazooka, but Roadblock put a hand on her shoulder, "Let him go."

"Sir?" She asked.

"I want the son of a bitch to look me in the eye when I kill him. I want him to know when his number is up." Roadblock said, "For Duke."

Anna hugged Snake, "I knew we'd get you back."

He put his forehead against her's and said, "Thank you, Anna, for not leaving me."

"I would never leave you Snake. I love you." She said.

She knew he would be smiling behind the mask, his blue eyes bright. His hands rose so they were right in front of her face and he signed, "And I love you with all of my heart."

_**This was by far my favorite chapter to write! I hope you all are happy that Anna and Snake are back together! And fear not, this is NOT the last chapter! :D**_


	20. Chapter 20

"Are you sure you won't stay?" Anna asked.

Storm Shadow shook his head, "I think it's about time I return home." He put an arm around Jinx's shoulders.

"Well then I can't say thank you enough. Without you I never would have gotten Snake Eyes back." Anna said, looking at her ninja who was standing with Roadblock and Scarlett.

Storm Shadow smiled, "Take care of him."

"Oh I will, he's not leaving my sight." Anna said with a smirk.

"If you ever need anything, you know where I'll be." Storm Shadow said.

"And me." Jinx piped up, "I always like the chance to get out of the temple."

"Bye Storm Shadow." Anna said, giving him a hug.

"Goodbye Anna." he said, giving her a squeeze before turning to Jinx, "Ready?"

"Ready." she said.

Anna watched them retreat down the hall before disappearing through the front doors. She felt a slight sadness with the departure of her friend, but she was happy he was finally returning home. She lifted part of the bandage that was wrapped around her head to keep the stitches across her eye from bleeding. She looked like the soldiers that came home with bullet wounds in their heads.

Snake Eyes hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. She leaned her head against his and said, "Did he say goodbye to you?"

She felt his head nod, "What did he say?"

"Nothing much." Snake Eyes said, "He told me to make you visit him sometime."

"I would like to see the temple sometime." Anna said.

"Hey guys." Roadblock beckoned them over to where he stood with Scarlett, Lady J, Cover Girl, and Ripcord, "I know it's been a long and stressful week, but not a lot of people know about Cobra's plan. To the world, it was just a busy work week, nothing out of the ordinary."

"Typical." Ripcord said, "We save the world and they don't even know about it."

"Well, a local high school is having a career fair and they'd like a couple of us to attend." Roadblock said, "I haven't replied to them yet because I was wondering if anyone would want to do it or not."

"Like you said," Scarlett said, "no one knows what happened. It would be rude of us to deny their request.."

"Yeah, I'll go." Anna said, and looked up at Snake, "You?"

Snake shrugged and nodded.

"I like talking to the kids." Ripcord said, "It might be fun to take Leatherneck along too. He likes to sneak up behind people and scare them."

Roadblock smiled, "Alright, I'll tell them we'll be there."

"When is it?" Ripcord asked.

"Tomorrow." Roadblock said, "At noon."

"Awesome, see you then." Anna said, and turned to Snake Eyes, "I'm going to my room."

"I'll meet you there." Snake Eyes said.

Anna smiled, "Okay."

Snake Eyes traveled outside and found the courtyard empty. He silently sighed, missing his opportunity.

"Something wrong?"

Snake Eyes turned, delighted to find Storm Shadow, "I thought you left."

"Jinx is getting transportation." Storm Shadow said, leaning against the building, "You came out here pretty fast."

"I came to find you." Snake Eyes signed.

Storm Shadow frowned, "What for?"

"I wanted to say thank you." he said.

Storm Shadow looked mildly surprised, "For what?"

"Taking care of Anna while I was gone." Snake Eyes said, "And for rescuing me."

"Please," Storm Shadow scoffed, "if it wasn't for Anna, I would have left you for dead. She wouldn't leave me alone about it, so I figured I'd be saving myself the misery of hearing her cry about it."

"I know you care for her." Snake Eyes said, "You can't fool me, Storm Shadow."

The white ninja smiled, "Take care of her, Snake Eyes."

"You don't have to worry about that." he said, "It was an honor to go on a mission with you again, brother." And with that, Snake put his hands together and bowed to Storm Shadow.

Storm Shadow looked astonished, and for a moment Snake Eyes thought he saw his comrade's eyes water before he mirrored Snake's bow.

Without another word, Snake Eyes left Storm Shadow standing outside to find the woman he loved. He passed other Joes in the hall, and they all smiled at him, some even going so far as to say it was good to have him back. Snake would stop and nod at them, to let them know he was grateful for their words.

He took a pit stop in his room and gathered some clothes, making his way down to the showers before he met Anna. The water was steaming, soothing his aching muscles. He let it run over his chest which was riddled with old and new sword slashes, as he thought about Anna. He had hurt her badly, and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for a while. He looked down at his bare hands, wondering how he was capable of doing that to her.

Finally he turned off the water and dried off, shrugging into a black sweatshirt and loose fitting black sweatpants. He walked barefoot back to his room and placed his armor in his wardrobe. Finally he left his room to find Anna, his spirits in a high place.

He entered her room and found her sitting on her bed cuddling a pillow. On the TV was Parker. "You're watching this movie again?" he signed to her.

She shot him a look and said, "I still haven't finished it yet! No thanks to Storm Shadow." She paused, her gaze running up and down his body, "I like the look."

Snake Eyes stepped into the room further, swinging the door closed with his foot. He took a half a step forward before turning slightly to twist the lock on her door. He looked back to where Anna was smiling.

He put one knee on her bed, again removing his helmet so he could see her again without the mask. With one swift move, he was leaning over her, their lips pressed together. Anna wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down to lay over top of her.

He wrested on his forearms, looking down into her dark eyes. He reached out to touch the bandage over her eye, and she caught his wrist, "Snake, don't do this to yourself."

He looked away, and frowned, but she caught his face with her hands, placing them on either cheek, "Hey, it wasn't you. It was Cobra Commander, so don't beat yourself up about it. And besides, it makes me look pretty badass. I ain't even mad."

Snake couldn't help but grin and silently laugh, "Only you." he mouthed.

She laughed, and tucked her head into the crook between his chin and neck. After a moment of silence she spoke, her voice somewhat muffled, "You smell good."

Snake smiled again, "You're missing your movie."

"Damnit!" Anna said, looking up at him, "You distracted me."

"I can leave." he signed.

Anna wrapped her arms around him again and pulled her down so he laid next to her, "No." She scooted closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder, his arm lying underneath her to prop her up. His other hand reached over to gently stroke her arm.

"Snake, will you promise me something?" Anna asked.

"What's that?" he awkwardly signed.

"Promise that you'll never leave me again." She said, her voice cracking.

"I was gone for only a couple days, was it that hard?" He asked.

She twisted to look up at him, her eyes watering, "Of course it was, Snake. I didn't know how long it would be until I had you back. It killed me inside thinking about all the things they could be doing to you, and that I wasn't doing anything to get you back. And the loss of Duke made everything worse."

Snake felt his stomach drop thinking about his friend. The friend he had killed.

"And that wasn't your fault either." Anna said, holding up a finger to his face, "Snake I love you, losing you to the enemy, even for a couple days, was horrible. I-"

He watched her face as she spoke, twisting into different emotions. He smiled, leaning down to kiss her mid-sentence. When they broke apart she looked up at him, "Promise?"

"I promise you, Anna, I will never leave you again. And if I do, it's only because it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride the night before their wedding."

Anna's face turned to one of surprise and she put a hand to her heart, her mouth open and at a loss for words. Snake laughed silently saying, "Of course that's not for a long time."

She hugged him tighter, "I should just really give up on this movie."

"But I thought 'Jason Stathem was too much of a hottie not to watch this movie'." Snake Eye signed.

Anna laughed out loud, "Well, I guess I just won't watch it tonight."

"No?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Why's that?"

"Because," she said simply, "you're wearing a sweatshirt."

He cocked his head to the side, "And?"

"Well you see," She said, sitting up to straddle him, "sweatshirts are way more easy," she started to unzip the top of his sweatshirt, revealing his muscled chest underneath, "to take off than armor."

Snake Eyes allowed her to unzip his sweatshirt and shrugged out of it, before he jumped up and twisted so that she was underneath him.

Anna looked up at him and smiled, "I have a feeling I won't be sleeping too much tonight."

"I don't think so." Snake said, shaking his head, and leaned down to kiss her deeply.

Ok, I'm totally not trying to drag this out, but there is one more chapter yet! The reason I didn't want to end it at the last chapter is because I HATE in movies how they just end it after all the action and don't have anything about what happened to the characters after it all! So there you go!

_**I am totally distraught that this story is ending because I LOVED writing it. So what am I planning? A SEQUEL! I have the storyline and everything all planned out, I just want to know what you guys think? If I make another one will you stick with me and read it? Because I totally want to write it badly. So tell me what you all think!**_


	21. Chapter 21

Anna's eyes fluttered open and she looked around for a brief moment wondering what had happened the night before. She looked over and found Snake next to her, still sleeping, his hand holding hers.

Never would she ever forget what had happened between them the night before. She had always been nervous with other men, but with Snake it had seemed right. Anna's spirits soared, and she didn't think of a time she'd been as happy as she was now. Deep down, she knew he was the one meant for her.

She smiled and snuggled closer to her ninja. She didn't want to wake him, so she quietly laid next to him, watching his face as he slept. She would never get tired of seeing him with no mask. She was disappointed that in a matter of an hour he would have to put it back on.

Beneath the blankets she put a hand on his chest. He stirred a bit but still didn't wake, much to her delight. After a while she looked at the clock and decided to wake him up, knowing he'd want to hit the gym before they went to the career fair.

"Snake, wake up." she said, shaking his shoulders.

His blue eyes blinked and his gaze met hers and he smiled, signing, "Good morning beautiful."

Anna couldn't help the stupid smile that came to her face as she said, "It's almost eight thirty."

He nodded, "We should do some training before the fair."

"I knew you'd say that." She said.

"Don't want to?" he asked.

"How about I meet you there, I want to go to the lounge quick." Anna said, "I'm a little thirsty."

Snake nodded, sitting up and reaching for his sweatshirt that was thrown on the floor. He donned it, along with his sweatpants and stood, stretching and yawning. Before he left, he gave her a quick kiss and, after she ran a hand along his jaw, he put his mask back on.

He closed her door, and she was left alone. Anna bit her lip and giggled falling back onto her bed.

Finally she got out of bed and changed into her yoga pants and a yellow athletic shirt to train with Snake. She looked at herself in the mirror and glared at the bandage on her head, "You will come off." she told it.

"Hey Ripcord." She said cheerfully as she entered the lounge.

"You're happy this morning." Ripcord said, flapping a newspaper to straighten it, "You know, I didn't see Snake in the training room last night. I mean I know he just got back and all, but usually you can't get the guy out of there."

"Weird." Anna said, with her head stuck in the refrigerator.

"Did you happen to see him?" Ripcord asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I think I saw him around somewhere." Anna said, taking a can of soda out of the fridge.

"Hmm." Ripcord responded, his eyebrows raised.

"He was being a little," Anna rounded the corner but stuck her head back into the lounge and said, "freaky."

As she walked away, she heard Ripcord burst out laughing.

When she entered the training room, she found Snake Eyes in a corner meditating. She started on her way across the room when a hand caught her arm. She turned to see Cover Girl standing next to her.

"Hey Cover Girl." Anna said, giving her a polite smile.

"Hey Anna," She said, "I um, I just wanted to say something."

"What's that?" Anna asked.

"You know," She started, "when you first joined the Joes, I wasn't sure about you. I didn't know if you had what it takes. But what you did to get Snake Eyes back," She smiled, rubbing her arm in embarrassment, "I just think that was amazing."

"Oh. Well thank you Cover Girl." Anna said.

"I guess I just wanted to say welcome to the Joes." Cover Girl said smiling, "Oh, and hey, that Storm Shadow, did he leave?"

"Yeah, he went back to his home." Anna said.

"Oh, I was just wondering." Cover Girl smiled and walked away.

Anna sat down next to Snake and mirrored his pose, clearing her mind. She liked when he did meditation, it was one of her favorite things to do during their training. They stayed like that for hours until it was eleven o'clock and Roadblock tapped Anna's shoulder.

Anna snapped out of her trance and stuttered, "Wha-what?"

"It's almost time for the fair." Roadblock said.

"Okay, I'll let Snake know." Anna shook the ninja, "Hey, Snake Eyes, it's time to go."

He turned his head toward her and nodded. Anna jumped up and said, "I gotta go change then, see you in a bit Block."

Anna left and once again changed into her armor. Now she knew why Snake liked to keep his on all the time. She put her katana's in their place at her back and strapped the nunchuck to her left hip, tucking her ninja stars into her sleeves.

Roadblock, Leatherneck, Ripcord, and Snake Eyes stood standing in the hallway next to the doors. Anna stepped up next to Ripcord and said, "Where's Scarlett?"

"She's not coming." Ripcord said gloomily.

"Well, now that we're all here we can leave." Roadblock said, "You're not too intimidated are you Anna?"

She shot him an 'are you kidding me' look and said, "Hell no."

He laughed and said, "Move out crew."

They all piled into one of the Joe's black SUV's and were on their way. Anna was squished between Ripcord and Snake Eyes, and every time they turned a right corner, Ripcord would throw his whole body weight into her. After the third time she turned to him, "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, yeah I am." Ripcord said, smiling.

Anna rolled her eyes and rested her back against the seat so that he couldn't smash her against Snake Eyes. This time when they turned a right corner, he threw his body over her lap.

She just couldn't win.

"You're like a little kid." Anna said in astonishment.

Ripcord just smiled stupidly.

Anna looked over at Snake who was looking out the window. She reached over and took hold of the hand that was resting on his leg. He looked over to her and gave her hand a squeeze.

Finally Roadblock pulled into the parking lot of a two story high school and said, "We have arrived."

Leatherneck clapped his hands together, "Man do I love these things."

When they got out, Anna helped Snake Eyes carry in the table they would put their pamphlets and various information about the Joes on. Inside, the school was silent, the students still in their classes.

They entered the gym where different businesses were setting up their booths, and the director of the fair pointed to their spot. They set up in between a bank and chiropractic booths, right in the middle of the row.

Someone brought them some chairs, and Anna sat down next to Snake Eyes, "So what should I be expecting."

"A lot of jokes about my mask." Snake Eyes said.

"Is that bad or good?"

"Some kids just make jokes, others I'd just like to slam into the floor."

Anna laughed, not hearing him talk like that before, "What else?"

"The boys will be hitting on you," he said, "much to my displeasure. And the kids will challenge you to fights, which of course we can't do."

"And I'll sneak up behind them and scare them." Leatherneck said excitedly, clapping his hands again.

The bell rang right as Roadblock finished setting up the table with a Joe blanket and pamphlets. After a couple minutes kids started filing into the gym, looking around to find a suitable booth.

Before they could come to their booth, Roadblock set out a picture frame that held a photo of Duke, that said "Captain Conrad "Duke" Hauser 1983-2013".

The Joes were swarmed with kids within the first five minutes, all of them pushing to see them.

"It's a great program." Roadblock was telling one of the kids, "You get to tell everyone you're the best."

Snake Eyes stood next to Anna, and kids were looking at him with fascination. "Take off your mask!" someone said.

"He never takes off his mask." Anna said, "No one's ever seen what he looks like."

"Really?" someone asked, "That's weird."

"What do you do?" Someone asked Anna.

"Well," Anna said, "I'm training to be a ninja."

"You?" a boy asked, "You're a girl, girl's can't be ninjas."

"Why not?" Anna asked.

"I don't know, they're not the ninja type."

"I'm a ninja." Anna said, "Well, at least I will be. So I guess girls can be ninjas."

"Prove it." He said smugly.

"What?"

"Prove it, do something a ninja could do."

"I don't know if that would go over good with your-"

The whole mob of kids started shouting different things about how she should show them something. She looked at Roadblock and Ripcord who were smiling at her and said, "Oh come on Anna, do a trick."

Anna rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, okay, make some room."

The kids instantly formed a circle in the middle of the gym. Anna reluctantly walked to the center of the circle. The whole gym was watching her, teachers included.

"Well," Anna said,"what do you want me to do?"

"Do some kung-fu!" Someone shouted.

"Okay, first of all I'm specialized in Wushu and Jujitsu. Kung-fu is a whole different story." Anna said, "So I guess I can do a little Wushu if you want."

Someone cat whistled.

Anna took a deep breath and struck the opening pose they looked for in competitions. After that she kicked, punched and leapt through the air around the circle like Snake had taught her. She ran and did a butterfly twist, making the kids murmur. She finally did the closing competition moves, and took a bow. The kids started clapping and cheering, allowing her to make her way back to the booth.

"Excuse me," a girl said, coming up to Anna, "I've been told my entire life girl's can't do the things guys can. I just saw a girl that could beat up half the male population, and I just wanted to say you've really inspired me."

Anna put a hand to her heart and said, "Never listen to those guys, you can do anything you want to as long as you still believe in yourself."

"Can I get a picture with you?" She asked.

"Of course!" Anna said, "Snake take a picture."

He took the girl's phone and Anna posed with her while Snake took the picture. She said thank you and walked back over to her group of friends who went on their way down the line of booths.

"Nice mask." A boy said to Snake, "Are you just too ugly to take it off?"

"Maybe he should give it to you." One of his classmates said, and Snake Eyes gave them a fist bump.

"Hey babe." A boy said, his black hair spiked up into a mohawk.

Anna looked around to see if he was talking to someone else. There wasn't any girls around, "Who me?"

"Yeah, that's right baby. How's about you and me go out to eat after we're done here." He said.

"What like a date?" She asked.

"That's what I'm talking about." He said, flashing her a smile.

"Oh, can my ninja master boyfriend come along too?" Anna asked, while Snake Eyes stepped up next to her, crossing his arms.

The boy's eyes widened and he gulped, quickly walking away.

A group of girls stood reading through a pamphlet, and Leatherneck rose up from behind them. He winked at Anna and shouted in his drill sergeant voice, "Atten-tion!"

The girls screamed and dropped their pencils and papers, while Leatherneck laughed and slapped his knee.

"I fly planes." Ripcord was saying to a younger girl who had asked him what he did.

"My dad's a Marine." she said, "He says pilots are hotshots and think they can do whatever they want."

Ripcord's face fell and he said, "Well your dad is wrong. Marines are stupid."

The girl gasped and ran away. Roadblock laughed and clapped Ripcord on the shoulder, "Good going."

"Why do you have a bandage across your eye?" A boy asked Anna.

"I got wounded on a mission and the scar hasn't quite healed yet." Anna said.

"You look like a mummy." he said, and walked away.

Anna rolled her eyes to the ceiling and groaned.

The mob of kids finally started thinning out as the day wore on, and a soldier from a different branch of the military approached them from a booth across the gym.

"Excuse me but, who is Ripcord?" he asked.

"That would be me." Ripcord said standing, sticking out his chest.

"What's this I hear about Marines being stupid?" The man asked.

Ripcord looked to where the patch on his uniform stated that he was a Marine. He did a little laugh and said, "Who said that?"

The Marine shook his head and walked away. After he turned his back, Ripcord held out his hands mouthing, "Bring it."

"Who's this?" Someone asked. They all looked to where a girl was pointing at the picture of Duke.

Roadblock sobered up and said, "That was our Captain, Duke."

"He died?" She asked.

Roadblock nodded, "Yes, he was killed during a mission we were on. Hes saved all our lives." The Joes nodded, and Snake Eyes bowed his head. Anna rubbed his back and tipped his head so he could see her shake hers.

Finally the teachers dismissed the students back to their last class hours.

"Well that was interesting." Anna said.

"Always is." Roadblock said.

The car ride back was filled with laughter and chatter about the kids and their reactions. Ripcord and Leatherneck were laughing hysterically, and Roadblock was laughing at them. Anna couldn't help but laugh along, and turned to look at Snake, who was watching them. She put a hand on his leg, and briefly laid her head on his shoulder.

"Anna, how does it feel to be the most badass woman those kids have ever met." Leatherneck asked.

"Feels pretty good." Anna said, cracking her knuckles.

They finally got back to the base and Snake Eyes followed Anna to her room. He helped her into sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and they laid on her bed so she could finally watch Parker.

"You are amazing." Snake Eyes signed suddenly.

"Where'd that come from?" Anna asked him.

"I just wanted you to know." Snake Eyes said, "I'll never get tired of telling you those things."

Anna smiled, "Boy do I love you."

"And I love you." He said, "Pretty soon you're going to be finished with your training and we'll be partners."

"We'll be together all the time." Anna said happily, "That's a good thing, right?"

"As long as we're together, nothing else matters." Snake said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Nothing else matters." Anna agreed, "Damnit I missed Parker again!"

_**This is it...sniff...Alone is officially over! :( It was such a blast writing this story and hearing your feedback. You've all been so lovely and awesome! I hope you stick around and look for the sequel to this story, because yes, I am writing one! The title I'm thinking will be Together. I know, I know, it's kind of a cheesy title, but oh well you know?**_

_**I hope you guys liked the career fair part, I tried to make it funny so tell me what you think! I know a couple of you suggested having that as my first chapter of my next story, but I got the first chapter all planned out.**_

_**And just in case I have some new followers or you just plain forgot, don't forget to check out my Storm Shadow story, Calm Before the Storm, which will be updated soon!**_

_**I love you all, and look forward to Together in the near future! **_


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